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WHITFIELD'S 

FIRE AND BURGLAR-PROOF 

IRON DOORS, 
LOCKS. Ac. 




PRICE LISTS FREE, 




YIADUCT WORKS, OXEOED STEEET, 
BIRMINGHAM. 



t_ iec 



FOR THE BEST 

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AND 

UMBRELLAS 

IN THE TRADE. 

LINCOLN & BENNETT'S, 
CHRISTIE'S, 

And all the best makers. 



. MACE'S 



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IMMENSE STOCK 

OF 

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And all the New Materials. 



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POETMANTEAUS, 
SATCHELS, 

STRAPS, 

TRAVELLING BAGS, 



114:, ]STEW STREET, 

CORNER OF TEMPLE STREET. 






,- 



PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 



BIRMINGHAM 



BIRMINGHAM MEN 



REPRINTED FROM THE 'BIRMINGHAM DAILY MAIL, 



WITH REVISIONS, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS 



By E. EDWARDS. 



BIRMINGHAM : 
Midland Educational Trading Company Limited. 



1877. 
[All Eights Reserved.'] 



rpHESE sketches, with the signature "S.D.R." were originally 
published in the Birmingham Daily Mail newspaper. The 
earliest were written, as their title indicated, entirely from 
memory. Afterwards, when the title was no longer strictly 
accurate, it was retained for the purpose of showing the 
connection of the series. It must be understood, however, that 
for many of the facts and dates in the later sketches the 
writer is indebted to others. 

The whole series has been very carefully revised, and some 
errors have been rectified. The writer would have preferred to 
remain incognito, but he is advised that, as the authorship 
is now generally known, it would be mere affectation to withhold 
his name. He hopes shortly to commence the publication of 
another series. 



December t 1877. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

First Impressions op Birmingham 1 

The Bull Ring Riots, 1839 19 

Gossip about Royalty 37 

Birmingham Banks, old and new 45 

John Walsh Walsh and the Aston Fetes ... 69 

G. F. Muntz, M.P 79 

Joseph Gillott 89 

Henry Van Wart, J.P 101 

Charles Shaw, J.P 108 

Robert Walter Winfield, J.P 116 

Charles Geach, M.P 125 

William Sands Cox, F.R.S 132 

George Edmonds 140 

Charles Vince 155 

John Smith, Solicitor . 164 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF 
BIRMINGHAM. 



TT is a fine autumnal morning in the year 1837. I am sitting 
•*■ on the box seat of a stage coach, in the yard of the Bull- 
and-Mouth, St. Martin's-le- Grand, in the City of London. 
The splendid gray horses seem anxious to be off, but their 
heads are held by careful grooms. The metal fittings of the 
harness glitter in the early sunlight. Jew pedlar-boys offer 
me razors and penknives at prices unheard of in the shops. 
Porters bring carpet-bags and strange-looking packages of all 
sizes, and, to my great inconvenience, keep lifting up the 
foot-board, to deposit them in the " front boot." A solemn- 
looking man, whose nose is preternaturally red, holds carefully 
a silver-mounted whip. Passengers arrive, and climb to the 
roof of the coach, before and behind, until we are "full 
outside." Then the guard comes with a list, carefully checks 
off all our names, and retires to the booking office, from which 
a minute later he returns. He is this time accompanied by 
the coachman, who is a handsome, roguish-looking man. He 
wears a white hat, his boots are brilliantly polished, his drab 
great-coat is faultlessly clean, and the dark blue neckerchief is 
daintily tied. His whiskers are carefully brushed forward and 
curled, the flower in the button-hole is as fresh as if that 
instant plucked, and he has a look as if he were well fed, and 
in all other respects well cared for. 

Looking admiringly over the horses, and taking the whip 
from his satellite, who touches his hat as he gives it up, Jehu 
takes the reins in hand ; mounts rapidly to his seat ; adjusts 
the " apron ;" glances backward ; gets the signal from the 
guard, who has just jumped up — bugle in hand — behind; 
arranges the " ribbons " in his well-gloved hand ; produces a 
sound, somehow, with his tongue, that would puzzle the most 
skilful printer in the world to print phonetically, but which a 
Pole or a Russian would possibly understand if printed 
"tzchk;" gently shakes the reins, and we are off. 



2 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

As we pass toward the gateway, the guard strikes up with 
the bugle, and makes the place resound with the well-known 
air, " Off, off, said the stranger." Emerging upon the street, 
we see, issuing from an opposite gateway, a dozen omnibuses, 
driven by scarlet-coated coachmen, and laden entirely with 
scarlet-coated passengers. Each of these men is a "general 
postman," and he is on his way to his " beat." As the vehicle 
arrives at the most convenient point, he will alight and 
commence the " morning " delivery. The process will be 
repeated in the evening ; and these two deliveries suffice, then, 
for all the " country " correspondence sent to London. 

Leaving them, our coach passes on through busy Aldersgate 
Street, where we are interrupted frequently by droves of sheep 
and numerous oxen on their way from Smithfield to the 
slaughter-houses of their purchasers. On through Groswell 
Street, alive with cries of ." milk " and " water creeses." On 
through Groswell Road ; past Sadler's Wells ; over the New 
River, then an open stream ; and in a few minutes we pull up 
at " The Angel." Here we take in some internal cargo. A lady 
of middle age, and of far beyond middle size, has " booked 
inside," and is very desirous that a ban-box (without the " d ") 
should go inside, too. This the guard declines to allow, and 
this matter being otherwise arranged, on we go again. 
Through " Merrie Islington" to Highgate, where we pass 
under the great archway, then newly built ; on to Barnet, 
where we stop to change horses, and where I stand up to have 
a look at my fellow outside passengers. There is not a lady 
amongst us. Coachman, guard, and passengers, we are 
fourteen. We all wear "top" hats, of which five are white; 
each hat, white or black, has its band of black crape. King 
William IV. was lately dead, and every decently dressed man 
in the country then wore some badge of mourning. 

During the whole of that long day we rattled on. 
Through sleepy towns and pleasant villages ; past the barracks 
at Weedon, near which we cross a newly-built bridge, on the 
summit of which the coachman pulls up, and we see a deep 
cutting through the fields on our right, and a long and high 
embankment on the left. Scores of men, and horses drawing 
strange-looking vehicles, are hard at work, and we are told 
that this is to be the "London and Birmingham Railway," 
which the coachman adds "is going to drive us off the road." 
On we go again, through the noble avenue of trees near 



FIEST IMPRESSIONS OF BIRMINGHAM. o 

Dmichurcli ; through, quaint and picturesque Coventry ; past 
Meriden, where we see the words, " Meriden School," built 
curiously, with vari-coloured bricks, into a boundary wall. 
On still ; until at length the coachman, as the sun declines to 
the west, points out, amid a gloomy cloud in front of us, the 
dim outlines of the steeples and factory chimneys of Birming- 
ham. On still ; down the wide open roadway of Deritend ; 
past the many-gabled " Old Crown House ;" through the only 
really picturesque street in Birmingham — Digbeth; up the Bull 
Ring, the guard merrily trolling out upon his bugle, " See the 
Conquering Hero Comes ;" round the corner into New Street, 
where we pull up — the horses covered with foam — at the doors 
of " The Swan." Our journey has taken us just twelve hours. 

And this is Birmingham ! The place which I, in pleasant 
Kent and Surrey, had so often heard of, but had never seen. 
This is the town which, five years before, had vanquished the 
Conqueror of the Great Napoleon ! This is the place which, 
for the first time in his life, had compelled the great Duke of 
Wellington to capitulate ! This is the home of those who, 
headed by Attwood, had compelled the Duke and his army — 
the House of Lords — to submit, and to pass the memorable 
Reform Bill of 1832 ! 

My destination was at the top of Bull Street, where my 
apartments were ready, and a walk to that spot completed an 
eventful day for me. I had come down on a special business 
matter, but I remained six months, and a few years later came 
again and settled down in Birmingham. My impressions of the 
place during those six months are fresh upon my memory now; 
and, if I write them down, may be interesting to some of the 
three hundred thousand people now in Birmingham, who know 
nothing of its aspect then. 

Bull Street was then the principal street in Birmingham 
for retail business, and it contained some very excellent shops. 
Most of the then existing names have disappeared, but a few 
remain. Mr. Sumeld, to whose courtesy I am indebted for the 
loan of the rare print from which the frontispiece to this 
little book is copied, then occupied the premises near the 
bottom of the street, which he still retains. Mr. Adkins, the 
druggist, carried on the business established almost a century 
ago. He is now the oldest inhabitant of Bull Street, having 
been born in the house he still occupies before the commence- 
ment of the'present century. Mr. Gargory — still hale, vigorous, 



4 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

and hearty, although rapidly approaching his eightieth year — 
then tenanted the shop next below Mr. Keirle, the fishmonger. 
His present shop and that of Mr. Harris, the dyer, occupy the 
site of the then Quakers' Meeting House, which was a long, 
barn-like building, standing lengthwise to the street, and not 
having a window on that side to break the dreary expanse of 
brickwork. Mr. Benson was in those days as celebrated for 
beef and civility as he is now. Mr. Page had just opened the 
shawl shop still carried on by his widow. Near the Coach 
Yard was the shop of Mr. Hudson, the bookseller, whose son 
still carries on the business established by his father in 1821. 
In 1837, Mr. Hudson, Sen., was the publisher of a very well 
conducted liberal paper called The Philanthrojrist. The paper 
only existed some four or five years. It deserved a better fate. 
Next door to Mr. Hudson's was the shop of the father of the 
present Messrs. Southall. All these places have been materially 
altered, but the wine and spirit stores of Mrs. Peters, at the 
corner of Temple Row, are to-day, I think, exactly what they 
were forty years ago. The Brothers Cadbury — a name now 
celebrated all over the world — were then, as will be seen by 
reference to the frontispiece, shopkeepers in Bull Street, the 
one as a silk mercer, the other as a tea dealer. The latter 
commenced in Crooked Lane the manufacture of cocoa, in 
which business the name is still eminent. The Borough Bank 
at that time occupied the premises nearly opposite Union 
Passage, which are now used by Messrs. Smith as a carpet 
shop. In all other respects — except where the houses near the 
bottom are set back, and the widening of Temple Bow — the 
street is little altered, except that nearly every shop has been 
newly fronted. 

High Street, from Bull Street to Carrs Lane, is a good 
deal altered. The Tamworth Banking Company occupied 
a lofty building nearly opposite the bottom of Bull Street, 
where for a very few years they carried on business, and the 
premises afterwards were occupied by Mrs. Syson, as a hosier's 
shop. The other buildings on both sides were small and 
insignificant, and they were mostly pulled down when the 
Great Western Railway Coraj)any tunneled under the street 
to make their line to Snow Hill. "Taylor and Lloyd's" Bank 
was then in Dale End. The passage running by the side 
of their premises is still called "Bank Alley." Carrs Lane 
had a very narrow opening, and the Corn Exchange was not 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BIRMINGHAM. 5 

built. Most of tlie courts aud passages in High. Street were 
then filled with small dwelling houses, and the workshops of 
working bookbinders. Messrs. Westley Richards and Co. 
had their gun factory in one of them. The large pile of 
buildings built by Mr. Richards for Laing and Co., and 
now occupied by Messrs. Manton, the Bodega Company, and 
others, is the most important variation from the High Street 
of forty years ago. The narrow footpaths and contracted 
roadway were as inconveniently crowded as they are to-day. 
The house now occupied by Innes, Smith, and Co. was 
then a grocer's shop, and the inscription over the door was 
"Dakin and Ridgway," two names which now, in London, are 
kuown to everybody as those of the most important retail tea 
dealers in the metropolis. Mr. Ridgway established the large 
concern in King William Street, and Mr. Dakin was the founder 
of "No. 1, St. Paul's Churchyard." 

New Street is greatly altered. At that time it was not 
much more lively than Newhall Street is now. The Grammar 
School is just as it was ; the Theatre, externally, is not much 
altered; "The Hen and Chickens" remains the same; the 
Town Hall, though not then finished, looked the same from 
New Street ; and the portico of the Society of Artists' 
rooms stood over the pavement then. With these exceptions 
I only know one more building that has not been pulled down, 
or so altered as to be unrecognisable. The exemption is the 
excrescence called Christ Church, which still disfigures the 
very finest site in the whole town. 

Hyam and Co. had removed from the opposite side of 
the street, and had just opened as a tailor's shop the queer 
old building known as the " Pantechnetheca," and the ever- 
youthful Mr. Holliday was at "Warwick House." The 
recollections of what the " House " was then ' makes me 
smile as I write. It had originally been two private houses. 
The one abutted upon the footway, and the other stood some 
thirty feet ,back, a pretty garden being in the front. The 
latter had been occupied by Mr. James Busby, who carried on 
the business of a wire-worker at the rear. The ground floor 
frontages of both had been taken out. A roof had been 
placed over the garden, two hideous small-framed bay 
windows fronted New Street, and a third faced what is now 
"Warwick House Passage." The whole place had a curious 
" pig-with-one-ear " kind of aspect, the portion which had 



b PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

been tlie garden haying no upper floors, while the other was 
three storeys high. The premises had been " converted " by 
a now long-forgotten association, called the " Drapery Com- 
pany," and as this had not been successful, Mr. Holliday and 
his then partner, Mr. Merrett, had become its successors. 
It was in 1839 that the first portion of the present palatial 
building was erected. 

A few doors, from this was the office of The Birmingham 
Journal, a very different paper then from what it afterwards 
became. It had been originally started as a Tory paper by a 
few old "fogies" who used to meet at "Joe Lindon's," "The 
Minerva," in Peck Lane ; and this was how it came about : The 
Times had, early in 1825, in a leader, held up to well-deserved 
ridicule some action on the part of the Birmingham Tory 
party. This gave awful and unpardonable offence, and 
retaliation was decided upon. Notes were sent to several 
frequenters of the room that, on a certain afternoon, important 
business would be "on" at Lindon's, and punctual attendance 
was requested. The room at the appointed time was full, and 
the table had been removed from the centre. The ordinarily 
clean-scrubbed floor was covered with sheet iron. A chair- 
man was appointed ; and one gentleman was requested to 
read the obnoxious article. This over, a well-fed, prosperous- 
looking, fox-hunting iron merchant from Great Charles Street 
rose, and in very shaky grammar moved, that The Times had 
disgraced itself and insulted Birmingham, and that it was 
the duty of every Birmingham man to stop its circulation in 
the town. This having been seconded, and duly carried, 
another rose and proposed that in order to mark the indigna- 
tion of those present, the copy of the paper containing- the 
offensive leader should be ignominiously burnt. This, too, 
was carried ; whereupon the iron-dealer took up the doomed 
newspaper with a pair of tongs, placed it on the sheets of 
iron, and, taking a "spill" between the claws of the tongs, 
lighted it at the fire of the room, and ignited the ill-fated 
paper, which, amid the groans and hisses of the assembled 
patriots, burned to ashes. This ceremony being solemnly con- 
cluded, the " business " began. It was deplored that the 
"loyal" party was imperfectly represented in the town. It 
was considered desirable that the party should have an 
"organ " in the town ; and it was decided to open a subscrip- 
tion there and then, to start one. The necessary capital was 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BIRMINGHAM. 7 

subscribed, and a committee was formed to arrange with 
Mr. William Hodgetts, a printer in Spiceal Street, for the 
jDroduction of the new paper. Mr. Hodgetts subscribed to 
the fund to the extent of £50, and the singularly inappropriate 
name for a weekly paper, The Birmingham Journal, was 
selected. The first number appeared June 4th, 1825. The 
editor was Professor Bakewell. It continued in the same 
hands until June, 1827, when Mr. Hodgetts paid out the other 
partners, and became sole proprietor. He enlarged it in 1830, 
at which time it was edited by the well -remembered Jonathan 
Crowther. In 1832 it was sold to the Liberal party. The 
Argus, in its issue for June, 1832, thus chronicles the fact : 

" The Journal. — This newspaper is now the property of Parkes, 
Scholefield, and Eedfern. It was purchased by Parkes in February 
last for the sum of two thousand pounds, and was delivered up to him 
on the 25th of March last. Poor Jonathan was unceremoniously turned 
out of the editorial snuggery into the miserable berth of the Editor's 
devil. ' Oh, what a falling off is here, my countrymen ! ' And who, 
think ye, gentle readers, is now Editor of The Journal ? An ex-pedagogue, 
one of the New Hall Hill martyrs, a ' talented ' writer that has been 
within the walls," &c, &c. 

This seems to point to George Edmonds ; but I cannot 
find any other evidence that he was ever editor. Be that 
as it may, Crowther remained, and the paper was published 
at the old office in Spiceal Street as late as May, 1833, when it 
seems to have been removed to New Street, and placed under 
the care of Mr. Douglas. In May of that year, Mr. Hodgetts 
published the first number of The Birmingham Advertiser. 
Meanwhile, Mr. Douglas sat in The Journal office, in New Street. 
It was a little room, about 10 ft. by 6 ft., and the approach was 
up three or four steps. Here he reigned supreme, concocted 
Radical leaders in bad taste and questionable English, and 
received advertisements and money. The whole thing was in 
wretched plight until about the year 1844, when — Mr. Michael 
Maker being editor — Mr. Feeney, who was connected with 
another paper in the town, went to London, saw Mr. Joseph 
Parkes, and arranged to purchase The Journal. Mr. Jaffray 
soon after came from Shrewsbury to assist in the manage- 
ment, and with care, industry, and perseverance, it soon grew 
to be one of the very best provincial papers in the country. 

The Post Office occupied the site now covered by Lilly 
and Addinsell's shop. The New Street frontage was the 
dwelling house of Mr. Gottwaltz, the post-master. A little 



8 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

way up Bennetts Hill was a semicircular cove, or recess, in 
which two people might stand. Here was a slit, into which 
letters were dropped, and an " inquiry " window ; and this was 
all. There were seven other receiving houses in the town, 
which were as follows : Mr. Hewitt, Hagley How ; Mr. E. 
Gunn, 1, Kenion Street; Mr. W. Drury, 30, Lancaster Street; 
Mr. Ash, Prospect Kow ; Mr. White, 235, Bristol Street ; Miss 
Davis, Sand Pits; and Mrs. Wood, 172, High Street, Deritend. 
Two deliveries took place daily — one at 8 a.m., the other 
at 5 p.m. The postage of a" single " letter to London then 
was ninepence ; Tbut a second piece of paper, however small, 
even the half of a bank note, made it a "double" letter, the 
postage of which was eighteenpence. 

Between Needless Alley and the house now occupied by 
Messrs. Reece and Harris, as offices, were three old-fashioned 
and rather dingy looking stops, of which I can tell a curious 
story. Bather more than twenty years ago, the late Mr. 
Samuel Haines acquired the lease of these three houses, which 
had a few years to run. The freehold belonged to the 
Grammar School. Mr. Haines proposed to Messrs. Whateley, 
the solicitors for the school, that the old lease should be 
cancelled ; that they should grant him a fresh one at a greatly 
increased rental ; and that he should pull down the old places 
and erect good and substantial houses on the site. This was 
agreed to; but when the details came to be settled, some 
dispute arose, and the negotiations were near going off. Mr. 
Haines, however, one day happened to go over the original 
lease — nearly a hundred years old — to see what the covenants 
were, and he found that he was bound to deliver up the plot of 
land in question to the school, somewhere, I think, about 1860 
to 1865, "well cropped with potatoes." This discovery 
removed the difficulty, the lease was granted, and the potato- 
garden is the site of the fine pile known as Brunswick Buildings, 
upon each house of which Mr. Haines's monogram, " S. H.,'' 
appears in an ornamental scroll. 

The Town Hall had been opened three years. The Paradise 
Street front was finished, and the two sides were complete for 
about three-fourths of their length ; but that portion where 
the double rows of columns stand, and the pediment 
fronting Ratcliff Place, had not been built. The whole of 
that end was then red brick. From the corner of Edmund 
Street a row of beggarly houses, standing on a bank 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OP BIRMINGHAM. 9 

some eight feet above the level of the road, reached to within 
a few yards of the hall itself, the space between them and the hall 
being enclosed by a high wall. On the other side, the honses 
in Paradise Street came to within about the same distance, 
and the intervening space was carefully enclosed. The interior 
of the hall was lighted by some elaborate bronzed brackets, 
projecting from the side, between the windows. They were 
modelled in imitation of vegetable forms ; and at the ends, 
curving upwards, small branches stood in a group, like 
the fingers of a half -opened human hand. Each of these 
branchlets was a gas burner, which was covered by a semi- 
opaque glass globe, the intent being, evidently, to suggest a 
cluster of growing fruits. Some of the same pattern were 
placed in the Church of the Saviour when it was first opened, 
but they, as well as those at the Town Hall, were in a few 
years removed, greatly to the relief of many who thought 
them inexpressibly ugly. 

Nearly opposite the Town Hall was a lame attempt to 
convert an ugly chapel into a Grecian temple. It was a 
wretched architectural failure. It was " The School of 
Medicine," and, as I know from a personal visit at the time, 
contained, even then, a very various and most extensive col- 
lection of anatomical preparations, and other matters connected 
with the noble profession to whose use it was dedicated. From 
the Town Hall to Easy Row the pathway was three or four 
feet higher than the road, and an ugly iron fence was there, to 
prevent passengers from tumbling over. On this elevated 
walk stood the offices of a celebrated character, " Old " — for 
I never heard him called by any other name — " Old Spurrier," 
the hard, unbending, crafty lawyer, who, being permanently 
retained by the Mint to prosecute all coiners in the district, 
had a busy time of it, and gained for himself a large forbune 
and an evil reputation. 

Bennetts Hill was considered the street of the town, 
architecturally. The Norwich Union Office then held aloft the 
same lady, who, long neglected, looks now as if her eyes were 
bandaged to hide the tears which she is shedding over her 
broken scales. The Bank of England has not been altered, 
though at that time it was occupied by a private company. 
Where the Inland Revenue Offices now stand, was a stone barn, 
which was called a news-room. It was a desolate-looking 
place, inside and out, and it was a mercy when it was pulled 



10 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

down. At the right-hand corner, at the top, where Harrison's 
mnsic shop now stands, there was, in a large open court- 
yard, a square old brick mansion, having a brick portico. 
A walled garden belonging to this house, ran down Bennetts 
Hill, nearly to Waterloo Street, and an old brick summer-house, 
which stood in the angle, was then occupied by Messrs. Whateley 
as offices, and afterwards by Mr. Nathaniel ,Lea, the share- 
broker. At the corner of Temple Row West was a 
draper's shop, carried on by two brothers — William and John 
Boulton. The brothers fell out, and dissolved partnership. 
William took Mr. R. W. Gem's house and offices in New Street, 
and converted them into the shop now occupied by Messrs. 
Dew ; stocked it ; married a lady at Harborne ; started off to 
Leamington on his wedding tour ; was taken ill in the carriage 
on the way ; was carried to bed at the hotel at Leamington, 
and died the same evening. His brother took to the New 
Street shop ; -closed the one in Temple Row ; made his fortune ; 
and died a few years ago — a bachelor — at Solihull. 

The present iron railings of St. Philip's Churchyard had 
not then been erected. There was a low fence, and joleasant 
avenues of trees skirted the fence on the sides next Colmore 
Row and Temple Row. I used to like to walk here in the quiet 
of evening, and I loved to listen to the bells in St. Philip's 
Church as they chimed out every three hours the merry air, 
"Life let us Cherish." 

A few weeks before my arrival, a general election, conse- 
quent upon the dissolution of Parliament by the death of the 
King, took place. The Tory party in Birmingham had been 
indiscreet enough to contest the borough. They selected a 
very unlikely man to succeed — Mr. A. Gr. Stapleton — and they 
failed utterly, the Liberals polling more than two to one. 
The Conservatives had their head-quarters at the Royal 
Hotel in Temple Row. Crowds of excited people surrounded 
the hotel day by day and evening after evening. One night 
something unusual had exasperated them, and th.ey attacked 
the hotel. There were no police in Birmingham then, 
and the mob had things pretty much their own way. 
Showers of heavy stones soon smashed the windows to atoms, 
and so damaged the building as to make it necessary to erect 
a scaffold covering the whole frontage before the necessary 
repairs could be completed. When I first saw it, it was in a 
wretched plight, and it took many weeks to repair the damage 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BIRMINGHAM. 11 

done by the rioters. The portico now standing in front of the 
building — which is now used as the Eye Hospital — was built at 
this time, the doorway up to then not having that protection. 

From this point, going towards Bull Street, the roadway 
suddenly narrowed to the same width as The Minories. Where 
the extensive warehouses of Messrs. Wilkinson and Biddell 
now stand, but projecting some twelve or fifteen feet beyond 
the present line of frontage, were the stables and yard of the 
hotel. On the spot where their busy clerks now pore over 
huge ledgers and journals, ostlers were then to be seen 
grooming horses, and accompanying their work with the 
peculiar hissing sound without which it appears that operation 
cannot be carried on. Mr. Smallwood occupied the shop at 
the corner, and his parlour windows, on the ground floor, 
looked upon Bull Street, the window sills being gay with 
flowers. It was a very different shop to the splendid one 
which has succeeded it, which Wilkinson and Biddell have 
just secured to add to their retail premises. 

The Old Square had, shortly before, been denuded of a 
pleasant garden in the centre, the roads up to that time having 
passed round, in front of the houses. The Workhouse stood on 
the left, about half way down Lichfield Street. It was a 
quaint pile of building, probably then about 150 years old. 
There was a large quadrangle, three sides of which were 
occupied by low two-storey buildings, and the fourth by a high 
brick wall next the street. This wall was pierced in the centre 
by an arch, within which hung a strong door, having an iron 
grating, through which the porter inside could inspect coming 
visitors. From this door a flagged footway crossed the 
quadrangle to the principal front, which was surmounted by 
an old-fashioned clock-turret. Although I was never an 
inmate of the establishment, I have reason to believe that 
other quadrangles and other buildings were in the rear. The 
portion vouchsafed to public inspection was mean in archi- 
tectural style, and apparently very inadequate in size. From 
this point I do not remember anything worthy of note 
until Aston Park was reached, in the Aston Road. The park 
was then entire, and was completely enclosed by a high wall, 
similar in character to the portion remaining in the Witton 
Boad which forms the boundary of the " Lower Grounds." 
The Hall was occupied by the second James Watt, son of the 
great engineer. He had not much engineering skill, but was 



12 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIOKS. 

a man of considerable attainments, literary and philosophica '1. 
His huge frame might be seen two or three times a week Ufa 
the shop of Mr. Wrightson, the bookseller, in New Street. Ht^ 
was on very intimate terms of friendship with Lord Brougham^ 
who frequently visited him at Aston. The favourite seat of tr£ e 
two friends was in the temple-like summer-house, near the largv e 
pool in Mr. Quilter's pleasant grounds. The village of Asto? Q 
was as country-like as if located twenty miles from a largfo 
town. Perry Barr was a terra incognita to most Birminghana 
people. Erdiugton, then universally called " Yarnton," w^ls 
little known, and Sutton Coldfield was a far-off pleasant spiot 
for pic-nics ; but, to the bulk of Birmingham people, as muo-h 
unknown as if it had been in the New Forest of Hampshire. ' 

Broad Street was skirted on both sides by private houses^ 
each with its garden in front. Bingley House, where th e 
Prince of Wales Theatre now stands, was occupied by M>. 
Lloyd, the banker, and the fine trees of his park overhung the 
wall. None of the churches now standing in Broad Street 
were at that time built. The first shop opened at the Islington 
end of the street, was a draper's, just beyond Ryland Street. 
This was started by a man who travelled for Mr. Dakin, the 
grocer, and I remember he was thought to be mad for opening 
such a shop in so outlandish a place. The business is still 
carried on by Mr. D. Chapman. Bice Harris then lived in the 
house which is now the centre of the Children's Hospital, 
and the big ugly " cones " of his glass factory at the back 
belched forth continuous clouds of black smoke. Beyond the 
Five Ways there were no street lamps. The Hagley Boad 
had a few houses dotted here and there, and had, at no distant 
time, been altered in direction, the line of road from near the 
present Francis Boad to the Higkfield Boad having at 
one time curved very considerably to the left, as anyone may 
see by noticing the position of the frontage of the old houses 
on that side. All along the straightened part there was on 
the left a wide open ditch, filled, generally, with dirty water, 
across which brick arches carried roads to the private dwellings. 
"The Plough and Harrow" was an old-fashioned roadside 
public-house. Chad House, the present residence, I believe, 
of Mr. Hawkins, had been a public-house too, and a portion of 
the original building was preserved and incorporated with the 
new portion when the present house was built. Beyond this 
spot, with the exception of Hazelwood House, where the 



FIEST IMPEESSIOXS OF BIRMINGHAM. 13 

father of Rowland Hill, the postal reformer, kept his school, 
and some half-dozen red brick houses on the right, all was 
open country. Calthorpe Street was pretty well filled with 
buildings. St. George's Church was about half built. Frederick 
Street and George Street — for they were not "Roads" then- 
were being gradually filled up. There were some -houses in 
the Church Road and at Wheeleys Hill, but the greater 
portion of Edgbaston was agricultural land. 

The south side of Ladywood Lane, being in Edgbaston 
parish, was pretty well built upon, owing to its being the 
nearest land to the centre of the town not burdened with town 
rating. There was a very large and lumbering old mansion on 
the left, near where Lench's Alms-houses now stand. Mr. R. 
W. Winfield lived at the red brick house between what are now 
the Francis and the Beaufort Roads. Nearly opposite his 
house was a carriage gateway opening upon an avenue of noble 
elms, at the end of which was Ladywood House, standing 
in a park. This, and the adjoining cottage, were the only 
houses upon the populous district now known as Ladywood. At 
the right-hand corner of the Reservoir " Lane" was the park 
and residence of Mr. William Chance. Further to the east, in 
Icknield Street, near the canal bridge — which at that time was 
an iron one, narrow and very dangerous — was another mansion 
and park, occupied by Mr. John Unett, Jun. _ This house is 
now occupied as a bedstead manufactory. Still further was 
another very large house, where Mr. Barker, the solicitor, lived. 
Further on again, the " General" Cemetery looked much the 
same as now, except that the trees were smaller, and there 
were not so many monuments. 

Soho Park, from Hockley Bridge, for about a mile on the 
road to West Bromwich, was entirely walled in. The old 
factory built by Boulton and Watt was still in operation. I 
saw there at work the original engine which was put up by 
James Watt. It had a massive oak beam, and it seemed 
strange to me that it did not communicate its power direct, 
but was employed in pumping water from the brook that 
flowed hard by, to a reservoir on higher ground. From this 
reservoir the water, as it descended, turned a water-wheel, 
which moved all the machinery in the place. It is not, 
perhaps, generally known that the same machine which was 
employed here in 1797 in making the old broad-rimmed copper 
pennies of George the Third is still at work at Messrs. Heaton s, 



14 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

coining the bronze money which has superseded the clumsy 
" coppers " of our forefathers. 

Coming towards the town, from Hockley Bridge to the 
corner of Livery Street, many of the houses had a pretty bit 
of garden in front, and the houses were mostly inhabited by 
jewellers. It was in this street that I first noticed a peculiarity 
in tradesmen's signboards, which then was general through 
the town, and had a very curious appearance to a stranger. 
Few of the occupiers' names were painted on the facicc of the 
shop windows, but in almost every case a bordered wooden 
frame, following the outline of the window, was fixed above it. 
Each of these frames stood upon three or four wooden spheres, 
generally about the size of a cricket ball, and they were sur- 
mounted by wooden acorns or ornaments. The boards were 
all black, and the lettering invariably gilt, as were also the 
balls and the acorns. This, however strange, was not inconsis- 
tent ; but there were hundreds of frames in the town stretched 
across the fronts of houses, and fixed to the walls by iron 
spikes. Every one of these signboards, although altogether 
unnecessary for its support, had three gilt balls underneath. 
There was another peculiarity : the capital letter C was invari- 
ably made with two "serifs" — thus, G — and for a long, time 
I invariably read them as Gr's. 

Coming up Livery Street, which then was filled on both 
sides of its entire length by buildings, it was pointed out to 
me that the warehouse now occupied by Messrs. F. Barnes and 
Co. was built for a show-room and warehouse by Boulton and 
Watt, and here their smaller wares had been on view. Where 
Messrs. Billing's extensive buildings now stand, was an old 
chapel, built, I believe, by a congregation which ultimately 
removed to the large chapel in Steelhouse Lane. It was used 
as a place of worship until about 1848, when Mr. Billing 
bought it, pulled it down, and utilised its site for his business. 
The whole area of the Great Western Railway Station was 
then covered with buildings, and one, if not more, small 
streets ran through to Snow Hill. Monmouth Street was 
very narrow. Where the Arcade now is, was the Quakers' 
burial ground. Opposite was the warehouse of Mr. Thornley, 
the druggist, who had a small and mean-looking shop at the 
corner, fronting Snow Hill. At the opposite corner was a 
shaky-looking stuccoed house, used as a draper's shop, the 
entrance being up three or four steps from Steelhouse Lane. 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BIRMINGHAM. 15 

Mr. George Richmond Collis had recently succeeded to 
the business, at the top of Church Street, of Sir Edward 
Thomason, who was dead. It was then the show manufactory 
of Birmingham. The buildings — pulled down seven or eight 
years ago — were at that time a smart-looking affair; the 
parapet was adorned with a number of large statues. Atlas 
was there, bending under the weight of two or three hundred 
pounds of Portland cement. Hercules brandished a heavy 
club, on which pigeons often settled. A copy of the celebrated 
group of the " Horses of St. Mark " was over the entrance. 
Several branches of Birmingham work were exhibited to 
visitors, and it was here I first saw stamping, cutting-out, 
press-work, and coining. 

There were then I think only ten churches in Birmingham. 
Bishop Ryder's was being built. The Rev. I. C. Barrett had 
just come from Hull to assume the incumbency of St. Mary's ; 
the announcement of his presentation to the living appeared 
in Arises Gazette, October 8th, 1837. I was one of his first 
hearers. The church had been comparatively deserted until 
he came, but it was soon filled to overflowing with an attentive 
congregation. There was an earnest tone and a poetical grace 
in his sermons which were fresh to Birmingham in those days. 
His voice was good, and his pale, thoughtful, intelligent face 
was very striking. He was a fascinating preacher, and 
he became the most popular minister in the town. The 
church was soon found to be too small for the crowds who 
wished to hear, and alterations of an extensive nature were 
made to give greater accommodation. Mr. Barrett had then 
the peculiarity in his manner of sounding certain vowels, 
which he still retains — always pronouncing the word " turn," 
for instance, as if it were written " tarn." I remember hearing 
him once preach from the text, 1 Cor. y iii., 23, which he 
announced as follows : " The farst book of Corinthians, the 
thard chaptar, and the twenty- thard varse." Although still 
hale, active, and comparatively young-looking, he is by far the 
oldest incumbent in Bmningham, having held the livings 
nearly forty years. 

St. George's Church then looked comparatively clean and 
new. A curious incident occurred here in May, 1833, an 
account of which I had from the lips of a son of the then 
churchwarden. Birmingham was visited by a very severe 
epidemic of influenza, which was so general that few house- 



16 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

holds escaped. Nor was the epidemic confined to mankind ; 
horses were attacked, and the proprietor of " The Hen and 
Chickens " lost by death sixteen horses in one day. So many 
of the clergy and ministers were ill, that some of the places 
of worship had to be closed for a time. St. George's, which 
had a rector and two cnrates, was kept open, although all its 
clergy were on the sick list. It was feared, however, that on 
one particular Sunday it would have to be closed. Application 
had been made to clergymen at a distance, but all, dreading 
infection, were afraid to come to the town, so that aid from 
outside could not be had. A consultation was held, and one 
of the curates, although weak and ill, undertook to conduct 
the devotional part of the service, but felt unable to preach. 
An announcement to be read by the " clerk " was written out 
by the rector, and was, no doubt, properly punctuated. At 
the close of the prayers, the next morning, the clerk arose, 
paper in hand, and proceeded to read as follows, without 
break, pause, or change of tone : "I am desired to give notice 
that in consequence of the illness of the whole of the clergy- 
men attached to this church there will be no sermon here this 
morning ' Praise God from whom all blessings flow.' " 

John Angell James was then at the head of the Noncon- 
formists of the town, and was in the prime of his intellectual 
powers. He was very popular as a preacher, and the chapel 
in Carrs Lane was always well filled. Mr. Wm. Beaumont, 
the bank manager, acted as precentor, reading aloud the 
words of the hymns to be sung and the notices of coming 
religious events. Mr. James had a powerful voice and an 
impressive manner, and occasionally was very eloquent. I 
remember a passage, which struck me at the time as being 
very forcible. He was deprecating the influence which the 
works of Byron had upon the youthful mind, and, speaking 
of the poet, said : " He wrote as with the pen of an archangel, 
dipped in the lava which issues from the bottomless pit." 
Mr. James was not a classical scholar ; indeed, he had only 
received a very moderate amount of instruction. He was 
intended by his parents for a tradesman, and in fact was 
apprenticed to a draper at Poole. I believe, however, that the 
indentures were cancelled, for he became a preacher before 
he was twenty years of age. For myself, I always thought 
him an over-rated man. There was a narrowness of mind ; 
there was a want of sympathy with the works of great poets 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BIRMINGHAM. 17 

and artists ; and there was an intense hatred of the drama. 
There was, too, a dogmatic, egotistic manner, which led him 
always to enunciate his own thoughts as if they were abso- 
lutely true and incontrovertible. He was not a man to doubt 
or hesitate ; he did not say " It may be," or " It is probable," 
but always "It is." He was a good pastor, however. Daring 
his long and useful ministerial career of more than half a 
century, he had but one fold and one flock. He was a firm 
disciplinarian; was somewhat of a clerical martinet ; but his 
people liked him, and were cheerfully obedient; and he 
descended to the grave full of abundant honour. 

Timothy East, of Steelhouse Lane Chapel, was a man of 
far greater mental capacity and culture. His sermons were 
clear, logical, conclusive, and earnest. It is not generally 
known that he was a voluminous writer. He was a frequent 
contributor to some of the best periodicals of his time. He 
wrote and published, under the titles, first of " The Evangelical 
Rambler," and afterwards of "The Evangelical Spectator," 
a series of exceedingly well-written essays, the style of which 
will compare favourably with that of the great standard works 
of a century before, whose titles he had appropriated. His 
son, the present Mr. Alfred Baldwin East, inherits a large 
share of his father's literary ability. Those who had the 
pleasure, a few years ago, to hear him read his manuscript of 
"The Life and Times of Oliver Cromwell," had a rare 
intellectual treat. Some of its passages are worthy of 
Macaulay. I wish he would publish it. 

Of the newspapers of that time, only two survive, at least 
in name — Aris's Gazette and The Midland Counties Herald. 
The latter had just been started. For a short time it was 
called The Birmingham Herald, but this was soon altered to its 
present title. It was published on the premises now occupied 
as Nock's refreshment bar, in Union Passage. It had four 
pages then, as now, but the paper altogether was not much 
larger than the coloured cover of The Graphic. The Journal, 
although its name is lost, still lives and thrives as The Weekly 
Post. The two others are defunct long ago. One, The Phil, 
anthrojnst, was published in Bull Street by Mr. Hudson ; the 
other was The Birmingham Advertiser, which, on the purchase 
of The Journal by the Liberals, had been started in 1833 by 
Mr. Hodgetts, in the Tory interest. It was edited by Mr. 
Thomas Ragg. It ceased to be published in 1846. 



18 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

The Grand Junction Railway, from Birmingham to 
Liverpool and Manchester, was opened July 4th, in the year 
I am writing of (1837), and on this line, in October of that 
year, I had my first railway trip. The "Birmingham ter- 
minus " of those days is now the goods station at Vauxhall, 
and it was here that I went to " hook my place " for Wolver- 
hampton. I entered a moderate-sized room, shabbily fitted 
with a few shelves and a deal counter, like a shop. Upon this 
counter, spread out, were a number of large open books, the 
pages of each being of different colour to the others. Each 
page contained a number of printed forms, with blank spaces 
to be filled up in writing. On applying to the clerk in atten- 
dance, I had to give my name and address, which he wrote 
in two places on the blue page of one of the books ; he then 
took the money, tore out a ticket, some four inches by three, 
and left a counterpart in the book. I was then shown to my 
seat in the train, and on inspecting at my leisure the document 
I was favoured with, I found that in consideration of a sum 
of money therein mentioned, and in consideration further of 
my having impliedly undertaken to comply with certain rules 
and regulations, the company granted me a pass in a first- 
class carriage to Wolverhampton. I returned to Birmingham 
by omnibus after dark the same evening, and passing through 
the heart of the Black Country, made my first acquaintance 
with that dingy region — its lurid light, its flashing tongues of 
intercessant flame, and its clouds of stifling, sulphurous smoke. 

Such, rapidly sketched, were my impressions of the place 
which was destined to become my future home. It is very 
different now. From the large and populous, but ugly town 
of those days, it is rapidly becoming as handsome as any town 
in England. Situated as it is, locally, almost in the centre of 
the country, it is also a great centre commercially, artistically, 
politically, and intellectually. From the primitive town of 
that time, governed by constables and bailiffs, it has become 
a vast metropolis, and may fairly boast of having the most 
energetic, far-seeing, and intelligent Municipal Council in the 
kingdom. Its voice is listened to respectfully in the Senate. 
Its merchants are known and honoured in every country in 
the world. Its manufactured products are necessities to 
nearly every member of the vast human race ; and it seems 
destined, at its present rate of progress, to become, before 
many years, the second city of the Empire. 



19 



THE BULL RING RIOTS, 1839. 



ON Sunday, the 14th of July, in the year 1839, I left Euston 
Square by the night mail train. I had taken a ticket for 
Coventry, where I intended to commence a business journey of 
a month's duration. It was a hot and sultry night, and I was 
very glad when we arrived at Wolverton, where we had to wait 
ten minutes while the engine was changed. _ An enterprising 
person who owned a small plot of land adjoining the station, 
had erected thereon a small wooden hut, where, in winter 
time, he dispensed to shivering passengers hot elderberry 
wine and slips of toast, and in summer, tea, coffee, and 
genuine old-fashioned fermented ginger-beer. It was the only 
" refreshment room" upon the line, and people used to crowd 
his little shanty, clamouring loudly for supplies. He soon 
became the most popular man between London and Bir- 
mingham. 

Railway travelling then was in a very primitive condition. 
Except at the termini there were no platforms. Passengers 
had to clamber from the level of the rails by means of iron 
steps, to their seats. The roof of each of the coaches, as 
they were then called, was surrounded by an iron fence or 
parapet, to prevent luggage from slipping off. Each passen- 
ger's personal effects "travelled on the roof of the coach m 
which he sat, and the guard occupied an outside seat at one 
end. First-class carriages were built upon the model of the 
"inside" of the old stage coaches. They were so low that 
even a short man could not stand upright. The seats were 
divided by arms, as now, and the floor was covered afresh 
for each journey with clean straw. The second-class coaches 
were simply execrable. They were roofed over, certainly ; but, 
except a half-door and a low fencing, to prevent passengers 
from falling out, the sides were utterly unprotected from the 
weather. As the trains swept rapidly through the country— 



20 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

particularly in cuttings or on high embankments — the wind, 
even in the finest weather, drove through, " enough to cut 
your ear off." When the weather was wet, or it was snowing, 
it was truly horrible, and, according to the testimony of medical 
men, was the primary cause of many deaths. There were no 
" buffers " to break the force of the concussion of two carriages 
in contact. When the train was about to start, the guard 
used to cry out along the train, "Hold hard! we're going to 
start," and 'twas well he did, for sometimes, if unprepared, 
you might find your nose brought into collision with that of 
your opposite neighbour, accompanied by some painful sensa- 
tions in that important part of your profile. 

I arrived at Coventry station at midnight. A solitary 
porter with a lantern was in attendance. There was no lamp 
about the place. The guard clambered to the roof of the 
carriage in which I had travelled, and the porter brought a 
long board, having raised edges, down which my luggage came 
sliding to the ground. The train passed on, and I made 
inquiry for some vehicle to convey me to " The Craven Arms," 
half a mile away. None were in attendance, nor was there 
any one who would carry my " traps." I had about a hundred- 
weight of patterns, besides my portmanteau. I "might leave 
my patterns in his room," the porter said, and I "had better 
carry my ' things ' myself." There was no help for it, so, 
shouldering the portmanteau, I carried it up a narrow brick 
stair to the roadway. The "station" then consisted of the 
small house by the side of the bridge which crosses the rail- 
way, and the only means of entrance or exit to the line was 
by this steep stair, which was about three feet wide. The 
"booking office " was on the level of the road, by the side of 
the bridge, where Tennyson 



while he 



" Hung with grooms and porters," 
tl Waited for the train at Coventry." 



Carrying a heavy portmanteau half a mile on a hot night, 
when you are tired, is not a pleasant job. When I arrived, 
hot and thirsty, at the inn, I looked upon the night porter as 
my best friend, when, after a little parley, he was able to get 
me a little something, " out of a bottle o' my own, you know, 
sir," with which I endeavoured, successfully, to repair the 
waste of tissue. 



THE BULL EIXG EIOTS. 21 

The next day, having finished my work in Coventry, I 
started in a hired conveyance for Coleshill, and a pleasant 
drive of an hour and a half brought me to the door of "The 
Swan " in that quaint and quiet little town. The people of 
the house were very busy preparing for a public dinner that 
was to come off on the following day, and as the house was 
noisy, from the preparations, I took a quiet walk in the 
churchyard, little recking then, as I strolled in the solemn 
silence of the golden-tinted twilight, that, only ten miles 
from where I stood, at that moment, a crowd of furious men, 
with passions unbridled, and blood hot with diabolic hate, held 
at their mercy, undisturbed, the lives and property of the 
citizens of an important town; that several houses, fired by 
incendiary hands, were roaring like furnaces, and lighting 
with a lurid glare the overhanging sky; that women by 
hundreds were shrieking with terror, and brave men were 
standing aghast and appalled ; that two of my own brothers 
and some valued friends were in deadly peril, and that one 
at that very instant was fighting for very life. It was the 
night of the great Bull Ring riots of 1839. 

When I arose the next morning I saw a man on horseback 
come rapidly to the house, his features wild with excitement, 
and his face pale with terror. His horse was covered with 
foam, and trembled violently. From the man's quivering lips 
I learned, by degrees, an incoherent story, which accounted for 
his strange demeanour. He was a servant at the inn, and had 
been to Birmingham that morning, early, to fetch from Mr. 
Keirle's shop, in Bull Street, a salmon for the coming dinner. 
On arriving at the town, he had been stopped at a barrier by 
some dragoons, who told him that he could go no further. Upon 
the poor fellow telling how urgent was his errand, and what a 
heavy blow it would be to society if the dinner at " The Swan " 
should be short of fish, he was allowed to pass, but was escorted 
by a dragoon, with drawn sword, to the shop. Here having 
obtained what he sought, he was duly marched back to the 
barrier and set at liberty, upon which he started off in mortal 
terror, and galloped all the way home, to tell us with tremulous 
tongue that Birmingham was all on fire, and that hundreds of 
people had been killed by the soldiers. 

A small group had gathered round him in the yard to listen 
to his incoherent, and, happily, exaggerated story. In a mimite 
or two the landlady, who had in some remote part of the 



22 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

premises lieard a word or two of tlie news tlie man had brought, 
came rushing out in a state of frantic terror, prepared 
evidently for the worst ; but when she heard that James had 
brought the salmon, her face assumed an air of satisfaction, 
and with a pious " Thank God ! that's all right," she turned 
away ; her mind tranquil, contented, and at perfect ease. 

After the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, there was a 
political lull in England for a few years. The middle classes, 
being satisfied with the success they had achieved for them- 
selves, did not trouble themselves very much for the extension 
of the franchise to the working classes. So long as trade 
remained good, and wages were easily earned, the masses 
remained quiet ; but the disastrous panic of 1837 altered the 
aspect of affairs. Trade was very much depressed. A series of 
bad harvests having occurred, and the Corn Laws not having 
been repealed, bread became dear, and so aggravated the suffer- 
ings of the people. Wages fell ; manufactories in many places 
were entirely closed, and work became scarce. Naturally 
enough, the working men attributed their sufferings to their 
want of direct political influence, and began to clamour for the 
franchise. Feargus O'Connor, a violent demagogue, fanned 
the flame, and the excitement became general. In the year 
1838 some half-dozen Members of Parliament united with an 
equal number of working men in conference, and drew up a 
document, known afterwards as "The People's Charter," 
which embodied what they considered the rightful demands of 
the working class. It had six distinct claims, which were 
called the " points " of the charter, and were as follows : 
1. Universal suffrage. 2. Vote by ballot. 3. Equal electoral 
districts. 4. Annual Parliaments. 5. Abolition of property 
qualification for Members of Parliament. 6. Payment of 
Members. This programme, when promulgated, was enthu- 
siastically received throughout the country, immense meetings 
being held in various places in its support. In Birmingham, 
meetings were held every Monday evening on Holloway Head, 
then an open space. On the 13th of August, 1838, there was 
a " monster demonstration " here, and it was computed that 
100,000 persons were present. A petition in favour of the 
charter was adopted, and in a few days received nearly 95,000 
signatures. The former political leaders — G. F. Muntz, 
George Edmonds, and Clutton Salt — became all at once 
exceedingly unpopular, as they declined to join in the agitation. 



THE BULL RING RIOTS. 23 

Torchlight meetings were held almost nightly in various parts 
of the country, and a Government proclamation was issued 
prohibiting them. Some of the leaders of the movement were 
arrested. °There was evidently some central organisation at 
work, for a curious system of annoyance was simultaneously 
adopted. In all parts of the country the Chartists, in large 
and well-organised bodies, went, Sunday after Sunday, as soon 
as the doors were opened, and took possession of all the seats 
in the churches, thus shutting out the regular congregations. 
I was present at a proceeding of this kind at Cheltenham. I 
was staying at " The Fleece," and on a Saturday evening was 
told by the landlord that if I wished to go to church the 
following morning, I had better be early, as the Chartists were 
expected there, and the hotel pew might be full. Dr. Close, 
the present Dean of Carlisle, was then the rector, and was a 
very popular preacher. I had long wished to hear hrm, and 
accordingly went to the church, with some other hotel guests. 
Soon after the bells had begun to chime, several hundreds of 
men filed in and took possession of every vacant seat and space. 
The aisles were so occupied that no one could pass, and there 
were probably not thirty of the regular worshippers there. 
There was not a female in the church. The men were very 
quiet, orderly, and well-behaved, and joined in the responses in 
a proper manner. The prayers over, Mr. Close ascended the 
pulpit, and took for a text, 1 Sam. xii, 23 : " God forbid that 
I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you ; but 
I will teach you the good and the right way." The eloquent 
rector was quite equal to the occasion; he gave them a 
thorouohly good dressing, and his extempore sermon lasted 
for two hours and a half ! I watched, during the sermon, the 
impatient glances of some of the men ; but they stayed the 
sermon out, and went away, hungrier certainly, if not wiser, 
than when they came. 

All through the winter of 1838 there was much excite- 
ment in the country. Many meetings were held, at which 
Eearo-us O'Connor distinctly advised his hearers that they nad 
a legitimate right to resort to force to obtain their demands. 
Birmingham, however, remained tolerably quiet until tiie 
be-inning of April, 1839. On the 1st of that month and again 
on° the 3rd, large meetings were held, at which Feargus 
O'Connor, a Dr. John Taylor, "delegates" named Bassey, 
Donaldson, and Brown, made violent and inflammatory speeches. 



24 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Meetings more or less numerously attended were held almost 
nightly. Upon the representation of the shopkeepers that 
their business was greatly hindered, the Mayor and magistrates, 
on 'the 10 th of May, issued a notice forbidding the holding of 
the meetings. Of the twelve gentlemen whose signatures were 
attached to this notice, only two survive — Dr. Birt Davies and 
Mr. P. H. Muntz. 

On the 13th of May, a number of delegates from various 
parts of the country, calling themselves " The National Con- 
vention," assembled in Birmingham. Their avowed object 
was to frighten Parliament into submission to their demands. 
They recommended a ran for gold upon the savings banks, an 
entire abstinence from excisable articles, and universal 
cessation from work. Their proceedings at this conference 
added fuel to the fire, and the peoj^le became more audacious. 
Threats were now openly uttered nightly, and people began to 
be alarmed, particularly as it was rumoured that a general 
rising in the Black Country had been arranged for a certain 
day. Hundreds of pikes, it was said, were already forged, 
and specimens were freely exhibited of formidable weapons 
known to military men by the name of "Caltrop" or 
" Calthorp," intended to impede the passage of cavalry. They 
consisted of four spikes of pointed iron, about four inches 
long, radiating from a common centre in such a manner that, 
however thrown, one spike would be uppermost. Like the 
three-legged symbol of the Isle of Man, their motto might be 
" Quoqunque jeceris stabit." There was a perfect reign of terror, 
and people were afraid to venture out after nightfall. On 
Friday, the 29th of June, the Mayor, Mr. William Scholefield, 
met the mob, and in a short and friendly speech tried to induce 
them to disperse, promising them, if they would refrain from 
meeting in the streets, they should have the use of the Town 
Hall once a week for their meetings. This proposal was 
received with shouts of derision, and the mob, by this time 
greatly increased in numbers, marched noisily through New 
Street, Colmore Bow, Bull Street, and High Street, to the 
Ball Ring. On the following Monday, July 1st, there was a 
large crowd in the Bull Ring, where Mr. Peargus O'Connor 
addressed them, and advised an adjournment to Gosta Green, 
to which place they accordingly marched, and O'Connor made 
a violent speech. In the meantime the troops were ordered 
out, and a large body of pensioners, fully armed, were marched 



THE BULL EING EIOTS. 2o 

into the Bull Ring. Finding no one there, the Mayor ordered 
the troops back to the barracks, and the pensioners were 
dismissed. After the meeting at Gosta Green was over, the 
people marched with tremendous cheering back to the Bull 
Ring. They met again on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, 
but no mischief, beyond a few broken windows, was done. On 
Thursday evening, about eight o'clock, the mob was in great 
force in the accustomed spot, with flags, banners, and other 
insignia freely displayed. Suddenly, without a word of notice, 
a large body of London police, which had just arrived by train, 
came out of Moor Street and rushed directly at the mob. 
They were met by groans and threats, and a terrible fight at 
once commenced. The police with their staves fought their 
way to the standard bearers and demolished the flags; others 
laid on, right and left, with great fury. In a short time the 
Bull Ring was nearly cleared, but the people rallied, and, 
arming themselves with various improvised weapons, returned 
to the attack. The police were outnumbered, surrounded, 
and rendered powerless. Some were stoned, others knocked 
down and frightfully kicked ; some were beaten badly about 
the head, and some were stabbed. No doubt many of them 
would have been killed, but just at this time Dr. Booth, a 
magistrate, arrived on the spot, accompanied by a troop of the 
4th Dragoons, and a company of the Rifle Brigade. The 
Riot Act was read, and the military occupied the Bull Ring, 
The wounded police were rescued and carried to the Public 
Office, where Mr. Richards and some other surgeons were soon 
in attendance, and dressed their wounds. Seven had to be 
taken to the hospital. One was found to have been stabbed in 
the abdomen, and another in the groin, in a most dangerous 
manner. The troops, and such of the police as were able, 
continued to patrol the Bull Ring, and they succeeded in 
arresting about a dozen of the rioters, who were found to be 
armed with deadly weapons, and their pockets filled with large 
stones. The mob continued to increase until about eleven 
o'clock, when they suddenly started off for Holloway Head, 
where they pulled down about twenty yards of the railing of 
St. Thomas's Church, arming themselves with the iron bars. 
They then proceeded to " The Golden Lion," in Aston Street, 
where the "convention" held its meetings. Dr. Taylor 
addressed them, and upon his advice they separated and went 
home. Taylor was arrested at his lodgings the same night, 



26. PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

and was brought before the magistrates about one o'clock in 
the morning, when he was ordered to find bail, himself in 
£500, and two sureties of £250 each. 

On the following morning, by nine o'clock, the rioters 
again met at Holloway Head. Mr. Alston, with a body of 
Dragoons, immediately went there, and the Riot Act was again 
read. The mob did not disperse ; the soldiers charged them, 
and one fellow was felled to the ground by a sabre cut on the 
head from one of the soldiers. During the whole of this day 
the shops in High Street' and the Bull Ring remained entirely 
closed. The magistrates and military patrolled the town, and 
were pelted with stones, but nothing very serious occurred, and 
for a few days afterwards the town was comparatively quiet. 

On Friday, the 12th of July, the House of Commons was 
asked by Mr. Thomas Attwood to take into consideration the 
prayer of a monster petition, which, on behalf of the Chartists, 
he had presented on June 14th. This petition asked the 
House, in not very respectful terms, to pass an Act, whereby 
the six points of the Charter might become law. It was 
signed by 1,280,000 persons. A long debate ensued, and Mr. 
Attwood's proposition was negatived. 

When the news arrived, on Saturday, the Chartists were 
furious, and a large and noisy meeting was held at Holloway 
Head in the evening, but no active disturbance took place either 
on that or the following day. 

On Monday, the 15th, some of the leaders who had been j 
arrested were brought before the magistrates at the Public J 
Office. A Carlisle man, named Harvey, and two others named 
Lovett and Collins, were committed for trial by a very full 
Bench, there having been present the Mayor, Messrs. Thomas 
Clark, W. Chance, C. Shaw, P. H. Muntz, S. Beale, and J. 
Walker. The crowd, which had assembled in Moor Street f 
and the Bull Ring, upon hearing the result, quietly dispersed, 
and for a few hours the town appeared to be in a perfectly 
tranquil condition. The soldiers retired to the barracks ; the 
police remained at the Public Office, with instructions from 
the magistrates not to act without direct magisterial orders. 
The Mayor went to dinner, and the magistrates, without 
exception, left the Public Office, and went home. 

Unfortunately, this was only the lull before the coming 
storm, for that night was such as few can remember now 
without a shudder. 



THE BULL RING EIOTS. 27 

About two hours after the magistrates had left the Public 
Office, the Bull Ring was very full, but nearly all who were 
there seemed present from motives of curiosity only. They 
were so orderly that no attempt was made to disperse them. 
The crowd became so dense that the shops were closed in 
apprehension that the windows might be accidentally broken by 
the pressure. About eight o'clock, however, a cry was raised, 
and an organised gang, many hundreds in number, armed with 
bludgeons, bars of iron, and other formidable weapons," came 
marching up Digbeth. They turned down Moor Street, and 
without any parley, made an attack upon the Public Office, 
demolishing in a few seconds every window in the front of the 
building. There was a strong body of police inside, but they 
were powerless, for they had received definite orders not to 
interfere without fresh magisterial directions, and all the 
magistrates had left. The mob soon started back towards the 
Bufl Ring, where they fell upon a respectable solicitor named 
Bond, who happened to be passing, and him they nearly killed. 
He was removed in an insensible and very dangerous condition 
to the George Hotel. Meanwhile, an attack was made with 
iron bars, used battering-ram fashion, upon the doors of many 
of the shops, the rioters " prodding " them with all their might. 
Messrs. Bourne's shop, at the corner of Moor Street, was the 
first to give way, and the men quickly gained admittance. A 
large number of loaves of sugar were piled near the windows, 
and these were passed rapidly into the street. There, being 
dashed violently to the ground, and broken to pieces, they 
formed dangerous missiles, with which the crowd soon 
demolished all the windows within reach. As the crowd of 
rioters increased, their weapons became too few, and the iron 
railings of St. Martin's Church were pulled down. With these 
very dangerous instruments they wrenched from Nelson's 
I monument the massive bars of iron which surrounded it. 
• These being long, and of great strength, proved to be f or- 
j midable levers, with which to force doors and shutters. In a 
short time the entire area of the Bull Ring was filled with a 
' mob of yelling demons, whose shouts and cries, mixed with the 
t sounds of crashing timber, and "the sharp rattle of breaking 
f glass, made a hideous din. .It was getting dark, and a cry 
was raised for a bonfire to give light. In a few moments 
the shop of Mr. Leggatt, an upholsterer, was broken open, 
and his stock of bedding, chairs, tables, and other valuable 



28 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

furniture was brought into the roadway, broken up, and fired, 
amid the cheers of the excited people. One man, more adven- 
turous than the rest, deliberately carried a flaming brand into 
the shop and set the premises on fire. The sight of the flames 
seemed to rouse the mob to ungovernable fury. Snatching 
burning wood from the fire, they hurled it through the broken 
windows in all directions. Bushing in to Bourne's shop, they 
rolled out tea canisters by dozens, which they emptied into the 
gutters, and then smashed to pieces. They then deliberately 
collected the shop paper around a pile of tea chests, and fired 
it, the shop soon filling with flames. The mob, now vastly 
increased in numbers, broke up into separate parties, one 
of which, with great violence, attacked the premises of 
Mr. Arnold, a pork butcher. He, however, with prudent 
forethought, had collected his workmen in the shop and armed 
them with heavy cleavers and other formidable implements of 
his trade, and so defended he kept the mob at bay, and even- 
tually repulsed them. The shop of Mr. Martin, a jeweller, 
whose window was filled with watches, rings, and other costly 
articles, had its front completely battered in, and the valuable 
stock literally scattered in the road and scrambled for. 
Mr. Morris Banks, the druggist, had his stock of bottles of 
drags smashed to atoms. A curious circumstance saved these 
premises from being set on fire. The mob had collected com- 
bustibles for the purpose, but in breaking indiscriminately the 
bottles in the shop, they had inadvertently smashed some con- 
taining a quantity of very powerful acids. These, escaping 
and mixing with other drugs, caused such a suffocating 
vapour that the miscreants were driven from the shop half 
choked. Other tradesmen whose places were badly damaged 
were Mr. Arthur Dakin, grocer ; Mr. Savage, cheesemonger ; 
Mrs. Brinton, pork butcher ; Mr. Allen, baker ; Mr. Heath, 
cheesemonger ; Mr. Scudamore, druggist ; and Mr. Horton, 
silversmith. Mr. Grooden, of the Nelson Hotel, which then 
stood upon the site of the present Fish Market, was a great 
sufferer, the whole of the windows of the hotel being smashed 
in, and some costly mirrors and other valuable furniture com- 
pletely destroyed. The large premises of William Dakin and 
Co. — now occupied by Innes, Smith, and Co., but then a 
grocer's shop — were hotly besieged for nearly half an hour, 
but were, as will be fully described a little further on, most 
bravely and successfully defended. At nine o'clock many of 



THE BULL EIXG RIOTS. 29 

;he shops were on fire, and heaps of combustibles from others 
were thrown upon the blazing pile in the streets. ^ The shops 
were freely entered and robbed. Women and children were 
seen running away laden with costly goods of all kinds, and 
men urged each other on, shouting with fury until they were 
hoarse. 

The work of destruction went on undisturbed until nearly 
ben o'clock, when suddenly, from the direction of High Street, 
a, troop of Dragoons, with swords drawn, came at full 
gallop, and rushed into the crowd, slashing right and left 
with their sabres. They had been ordered to strike with 
bhe flats only, but some stones were thrown at them, after 
which some of the rioters got some very ugly cuts. Simul- 
taneously the mob was taken in flank by a body of a hundred 
police, which came, headed by Mr. Joseph Walker and Mr. 
George Whateley, from Moor Street. Such of the mob as 
could get away fled in terror, but so many arrests were made 
that the prison in Moor Street was soon filled. In less than a 
quarter of an hour not one of the rioters was to be seen, and 
the peaceful inhabitants came trembling into the streets, to 
look upon the wreck, and to convey their women and children 
to some safer locality. Some ladies had to be brought from 
upper storeys by ladders. Tradesmen took their account books 
away, for fear of further troubles. The fire engines were 
brought, and vigorous help was soon obtained to work them. 
By one o'clock in the morning the fires were all extinct, but at 
that time all that remained of the premises of Messrs. Bourne 
ind Mr. Leggatt were the black and crumbling^ walls. 

I have mentioned the attack upon the premises of W. Dakin 
Vnd Co. My own brother was manager there, and was in the 
(ery thick of the fray. From him at the time, I had a very 
Waphic account of the affair, and in order that this little 
ketch might be as accurate. as possible, I made a special visit 
o his house, nearly 150 miles from Birmingham, to refresh 
ry memory; and the following account of the attack 
,pon Dakin's, and the robbery at Horton's, is in his own 
.anguage : 

. J " Remember it ? Yes, I was confidential manager to Messrs. 
IV. Dakin and Co., tea merchants, at No. 28, High Street, 
vhere they had large premises facing the street, and carried 
on a very extensive business, having about twenty assistants 
', iving on the premises. 



30 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

" It was the custom every Monday evening to remove all the 
goods from the windows, so that the porters might clean the 
glass the following morning, and this had been done on the 
night of the riots, so that the windows were empty. There 
was a great crowd in the street that evening, and I ordered 
the place to be closed earlier than nsnal, and kept everybody 
on the alert. About eight o'clock, amid increasing uproar in 
the street, there came a cry of 'Fire,' and on proceeding to 
an upper floor I saw the glare of fire reflected in the windows 
of the opposite houses. I at once collected all the assistants 
and porters, and proceeding to the shop, we lighted the gas 
and mustered all the ' arms ' in the house. They consisted of 
an old sword and a horse pistol, the latter of which we loaded 
with ball. The front door was a very wide one, and here I 
planted one of the porters with a large kitchen poker. In one 
of the windows I placed a strong man with a crowbar, and in 
the other an active fellow with the sword. " Presently we 
heard our upper windows smashing, and simultaneously, an 
attack was made upon our front door and windows by men 
armed with railings they had taken from Nelson's monument. 
These heavy bars were evidently wielded by men of great 
strength, for one of the earliest thrusts broke through a strong 
shutter, smashing a thick plate of glass inside. By holes] 
through the bottom of the shutters, the men, using the bars as'' 
levers' wrenched the shutters out. There was a strong and 
very massive iron shutter-guarding bar about half-way up. 
They pulled at the shutters, jerking them against this bai 
until they broke them in two across the middle. They ther 
pulled them away and smashed the whole front in, leaving m, 
bare and completely open to the street. This did not takfc 
place, however, without a struggle, for as often as a hand o.v 
an arm came within reach, my doughty henchman with thj 
sword chopped at them with great energy and considerabl e 
success. Others collected the metal weights of the shop ar/ 1 
hurled them in the faces of our assailants. I, myself, knocke' i 
one fellow senseless by a blow from a four-pound weighi ,, 
which I dashed full in his face. In return we were assaile' I 
by a perfect shower of miscellaneous missiles, including I a 
great many large lumps of sugar, stolen from other grocers * 
shops. Finding themselves baffled, a cry was raised of ' Fire ; 

the place.' One of the men then deliberately climbed ai, 

lamp-post opposite, and with one blow from a bar of iroi 



THE BULL RING RIOTS. 31 

knocked away the lamp and its connections, npon which the 
gas from the broken pipe flared np two or three feet high. 
From this flame they lighted a large number of combnstibles, 
which they hurled amongst us and through the upper windows. 

I thought our time was come, but my men were very active, 
and we kept our ground. The young man with the pistol 
came to me and asked if he should fire. ' Certainly,' said 
I, ' and mind you take good aim.' He tried two or three 
times, but the thing wouldn't go off ; we found afterwards 
that in his terror he had omitted to ' cock ' it. Spite of this 
disaster, we fought for about twenty minutes, when there came 
a sudden lull, and we were left alone. Looking cautiously 
through the broken window, I saw that the mob had complete 
possession of the shop of Mr. Horton, a silversmith, next door, 
and were appropriating the valuable contents. Men and 
women, laden with the spoil, were running off as fast as 
possible. The ' women were the worst, and they folded up 
their dresses like aprons, and carried off silver goods by 
laps -full. 

"All at once there was a cry, a roar, and a sound of horses' 
hoofs. A moment afterwards we saw a troop of Dragoons 
come tearing along, with swords drawn, slashing away on all 
sides. Some of the rioters were very badly cut, and the 
affrighted ruffians fled in all directions, amid groans, cries, 
curses, and a horrid turmoil. Several houses were on fire, 
and the whole place was lighted up with a lurid glow. 

" Our premises inside presented a curious sight. Each 

floor was strewn with missiles thrown by the mob. Large 

lumps of sugar, stones, bits of iron, portions of bricks, pieces 

-of coal, and embers of burning wood were mixed up with 

? ilver teapots, toast racks, glass cruets, and plated goods of 

very kind. Aloft in the gasalier we found a silver cruet 

; tand and a bunch of three pounds of tallow candles. The 

1 .whole place was in a frightful state of ruin and confusion. 

Our list of killed and wounded was, fortunately, a light one. 

I I was the only one seriously hit. I had a heavy blow in the 
*ace which spoiled it as a picture, both in 'drawing' and 

colour,' for some time, but it eventually got well. One of our 
ellows, we found, had retired to his bed-room during the fight ; 
Le said he was ' demoralised.' Another, a porter, had hidden 
limself in a place of great sweetness and safety — the dung- 
)it of the stable yard. Our premises, however, though 



32 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

damaged, were not destroyed, and our stock had not been 
stolen. We were warmly congratulated on the success of our 
defence, and ' Dakin's young men ' were looked upon as heroes 
for a time." 

The magistrates, having been all summoned, remained in 
consultation at the Public Office during the whole night, and 
most energetic measures were determined upon. Barriers, 
guarded by soldiers, were placed at the entrances to all the 
streets leading to the centre of the town. It was resolved 
that no more than three persons should be allowed to collect 
at any point. To enforce these orders the whole of the special 
constables — 2,000 in number — who were already sworn in ? 
were called into active service. Arrangements were made to 
increase the number to 5,000. Messengers were sent to the 
authorities of the three adjoining counties, requesting the 
immediate assistance of the Yeomanry Cavalry. An " eighteen - 
pounder " piece of field artillery was placed on the summit of 
the hill in High Street, and another on Holloway Head. The 
suburbs of the town were to be patrolled continuously by the 
Dragoons, and the centre was to be under the protection of 
the special constables. A guard of the Rifle Brigade waf 
to be stationed at the Public Office, and the remainder was 
to be kept in reserve for emergencies. The sittings of the 
magistrates were to be continuous day and night, and other! 
precautionary measures were resolved upon. 

The town, the next morning, presented a most dismal' 
appearance. The shops in all the principal streets were closed, 
and remained so during the day. From Moor Street to about 
a hundred yards beyond New Street there was scarcely a pane 
of glass left entire. Most of the doors and shutters were liter 
ally in splinters ; valuable goods, in some of the shops fron 
which the owners had fled in terror the night before, wer* 
lying in the smashed windows, entirely unprotected, and c> 
the still smoking and steaming ruins of the premises o 
Messrs. Bourne and Mr. Leggatt nothing was left standing ., 
but the walls. The west side of the Bull King, from " Th, e 
Spread Eagle " to New Street, was in a similar condition, bu t 
there had been no fires there. The whole area of the BuJ 11 
Ring was strewn with a strange medley of miscellaneou f y 
items. Some one of the specials or police who had been oi 
guard there during the night, in a spirit of grim humour, hac 
stuck up a half -burnt arm-chair, in which they had placed, h 



THE BULL EING EIOTS. 33 

imitation of a sitting figure, one of the large circular tea- 
canisters from Messrs. Bourne's, which, in its battered con- 
dition, bore some rough resemblance to a human form. They had 
clothed it with some half -burned bed ticking ; had placed a 
shattered hat upon its summit ; and, having made a small hole 
in that part which had been the neck, had stuck therein a long 
clay pipe. It had a very droll appearance. Feathers were 
flying about, and fragments of half-consumed furniture were 
jumbled up with smashed tea-chests and broken scales. The 
ground was black with tea, soaked by the water from the fire- 
engines. The railings of St. Martin's Church were in ruins, 
and Nelson's Statue was denuded of a great portion of its 
handsome iron fence. The whole place looked as though it had 
undergone a lengthened siege, and had been sacked by an 
infuriated soldiery. 

There is good reason for thinking that the riots were 
premeditated, and had been arranged by some mysterious, 
secret conclave in London or elsewhere. On this morning — 
the day after the riots, be it remembered — a letter was 
received by Messrs. Bourne, hearing the London post-mark of 
the day before, of which the following is a copy, in matter 
and in arrangement : 

Famine, &c. 
The people shall rise like lions and shall not lie down till they 
eat the pre}', and drink the hlood of the slain, 

under 

JESUS CHRIST ! ! 

Taking vengeance upon all who disohey 

The Gospel ! 

ECCE, GLORIA DEI. REX MUNDI. 

Exeunt omnes. 

SELAH. 

Blood. Fiee, &c. 

During the day preventive arrangements were actively put 
Min practice. Captain Moorson, R.rT., who was in command of 
the special constables, organised a system by which the several 
uetachments into which he had divided them could be con- 
centrated, at short notice, upon any given spot. Guard- 
rooms were engaged at the principal inns, which were open 
'day and night, and the specials were on duty for specified 
portions of each day. Each of the detachments had an officer 
to control their movements. Provisions of a simple nature 
were amply provided, and every arrangement was made for 



34 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

the comfort of the specials while on duty. In a day or two 
troops of Yeomanry marched in, and were quartered in the 
houses of the residents in the suburbs. Meanwhile, great 
indignation was openly expressed at what was thought the 
neglect of proper precaution on the part of the magistracy ; 
and on Tuesday — the day after the fires — a meeting was held, 
at which the complaints were loudly and angrily discussed. 
A memorial was drawn up, numerously signed, and forwarded 
by the same night's post to Lord John Russell, who was then 
Home Secretary. It brought heavy charges of neglect against 
the local rulers, and finished as follows : " Feeling that the 
Mayor and Magistrates have been guilty of gross derelictior 
of duty, we request your Lordship to institute proceedings tc 
bring them to trial for their misconduct, and, in the meantime, 
to suspend them from any further control or interference." 

On the Wednesday morning, the London papers had long and 
special reports of Monday night's proceedings, and The Time°\ 
gave publicity to two statements which I cannot fnr> \ 
corroborated in any way. It stated that on Monday morning 
the town was placarded with an announcement that Mr. 
Thomas Attwood was expected in the town during the day,; 
and would address the people ; and it mentioned that abou v ' 
the middle of the day a man with a bell was sent round tc 3 
announce that a meeting would be held upon Holloway HeacT 
at half -past six that evening, and that Mr. Attwood would bfl 
there. So far as I can discover by diligent search, neither oj J 
these statements was correct. They were, however, made tin 
text of violent attacks, in the Press and in both Houses o 
Parliament, upon the magistrates, and upon Lord Melbourne' 
Ministry, which had appointed them. The virulence of these 
attacks was very remarkable even in those days, and was 
almost beyond what the present generation will believe possible. . 
One of the speakers in the House of Lords did not hesitate tc i ; 
say that he held the " Palace favourites " liable to the country 
for having knowingly appointed violent demagogues and 
known disloyal persons to the magisterial bench. Lorc^ 
Melbourne, in a long and eloquent speech, rebutted the charge^ 
and read to the House a long and very able letter from Mr.,. 
William Scholefield, the Mayor, giving a full and fair history^ 
of the whole matter. Government, however, consented to 
institute a full inquiry; and Mr. Maule, the Solicitor to the 
Treasury, was sent down, and held sittings at the Hen and 



THE BULL RING RIOTS. 35 

C liickens Hotel. His inquiries, however, were only preli- 

] inaiy to the full and exhaustive investigation niade after- 

ards by Mr. Dundas, who, in his report to Parliament 

presented October 26, 1840), fully absolved the Mayor and 

lagistrates from blame. 

Upwards of sixty of the rioters having been apprehended, 
*, :he magistrates had a busy week of it, and large numbers 
of prisoners were committed for trial. A Special Assize was 
opened at Warwick, on August 2nd, before Mr. Justice 
Littledale. Three men, named respectively, Howell, Roberts, 
and Jones, and a boy named Aston, were found guilty of arson, 
and condemned to death. The jury recommended them to 
mercy, but the judge told them, that as to the men, he could 
not support their appeal. The Town Council, however, 
petitioned for remission, and a separate petition of the inhabi- 
tants, the first signature to which was that of Messrs. Bourne, 
"sked for mercy to the misguided convicts. They were ulti- 
ciately transported for life. Of the many others who were 
(found guilty, the majority were released upon their own re- 
cognisances, and others, to the number of about a dozen, were 
" entenced to various terms of imprisonment with hard labour. 
There remained the bill to be paid. Claims to the amount 
Jif £16,283 were sent in ; and after a long and searching 
nvestigation of each claim separately, the sum of £15,027 
vas awarded to the sufferers. Rates to the amount of £20,000, 
'for compensation, and to cover expenses, were made in the 
hundred of Hemlingford, and with the payment of these sums 
]he Birmingham Riots of 1839 became matter of history only. 
It is a very extraordinary circumstance that to this time 
10 one, so far as I am aware, has observed a remarkable 
,oincidence. On the loth of July, 1791, the houses of Mr. 
ohn Ryland, at Easy Hill, Mr. John Taylor, Bordesley Hall, 
{jind William Hutton, the historian, in High Street, were 
ojlestroyed by the " Church and King " rioters. On the 15th 
c )f July, in the year 1839, forty- eight years afterwards — to a 
( Bay — the Chartist rioters were rampant in the Bull Ring. 
i After 1839, the Birmingham Chartists gave very little 
trouble. There were occasional meetings sympathising with 
the movement, in other places, as at Newport in the following 
(November, and in the Potteries in 1842. These meetings, 
ihowever, were not largely attended, and there was none of the 
former excitement. On the 11th of April, 1848, the date of 



36 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Feargus O'Connor's wretched fiasco in London, they playe° 
their last feeble game. They held a meeting in the People e 
Hall, and I there heard some violent revolutionary speeche jt 
There was, however, no response to their excited appeals, an? 
from that day Chartism was practically extinct. 5 

It is not, perhaps, generally known that the principles 
embodied m the famous " Charter" were not new. In 1780 
Charles James Fox, the great Whig leader, declared himself in 
favour of the identical six points which were, so lono- after 
embodied in the programme of the Chartists. The Duke of 
Richmond of that time brought into the House of Lords in the I 
same year, a Bill to give universal suffrage and annual 'parlia-\ 
ments ; and afterwards, Mr. Erskine, Sir James Macintosh, and 
Larl Grey advocated similar views. 

Several great causes were at work which tended to throw 
Chartism into obscurity. The repeal of the Corn Laws had 
given the people cheap bread, and the advent of free trade 
gave abundant work and good wages. With increased bodik 
comfort came contentment of mind. The greater freedom of 
intercourse, caused by railway travelling, showed the lower 
classes that the governing bodies were not so badly disposed 
towards them as they had been taught to believe. On the! 
other hand, the upper classes acquired a higher sense of dutnj 
to their humbler neighbours. All grades came to under- , 
stand each other better, and with increased knowledge came 
better feelings and a more friendly spirit. 

• B S t T 0t ™ r CaUSe has P erha P s ^d a deeper and more last- 
ing effect. The abolition of the stamp duty upon newspapers' 
and the consequent advent of a cheap press, enabling every 
working man to see his daily paper, and to know what is goino 
on has carried into effect, silently, a revolution, complek 
and thorough, in English thought and manners, in relation tc 
political matters. Every man now sees that, differing as 
Lnglishmen do, and always will, upon some matters, they all 
agree as to one object. That object is, " the greatest good to^ 
the greatest number" of their fellow countrymen. Thet 
pride of all Englishmen now, is in the glory that their greatil 
country has achieved in peaceful directions. Their ardent s 
desire and prayer is, that the benefits they have secured for i 
themselves m the last few and fruitful years of judicious I 
legislation, may descend with ever-widening beneficent influ- J 
ences to succeeding generations. 



37 



GOSSIP ABOUT EOTALTT. 



A 



S I sit down to write, on the stormy evening of this 
twenty-ninth day of January, 1877, I bethink me that 
it is fifty-seven years to-day since death terminated a life 
and a reign alike unexampled for their length in the history 
of English monarchs. King Greorge the Third died on the 
29th of January, 1820. 

I remember the day perfectly. I, a child not quite five 
years old, was sitting with my parents in a room, the windows 
of which looked upon the street of a pleasant town in Kent. 
Snow was falling fast, and lay thick upon the ground outside. 
The weather was intensely cold, and we crowded round the 
fire for warmth and comfort. Suddenly there was a crash : 
a snowball fell in our midst, and the fragments of a window- 
pane were scattered in the room. My father rose in anger to 
go to catch the culprit who had thrown. He was unsuccessful ; 
but in his short visit to the street he had learned some news, 
if or when he returned he told us that the King was dead. 

The King dead? I had heard of "the King" of course, 
but what it was I had never thought of. To me it represented 
strength and omnipotent protection, but it was an abstraction 
only;° an undefined something of awful portent; and that it 
could die was very mysterious, and set me wondering what 
we should do now. 

, My father explained at once, that the King was only a 

1 man; that his sons and daughters, even, were old people now; 

r >that one of the sons died only a week ago, and wasn't buried 

( .yet; and that this son had left, fatherless, a little baby girl, 

' Lot much over six months old, who, if she should live, might 

one day become the Queen of England. Such is my earliest 

Recollection in connection with the illustrious lady who still, 

^happily, sits upon the English throne. m 

I am an old man now, but I remember that being without 
a King made me feel very uncomfortable then, particularly at 
night. A few days afterwards, however, there was a sound of 



38 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

trumpets in the street, and a number of elderly gentlemen, y e - 
very queer dresses and curious hats, stopped opposite °yi e £r 
window, where one of them, standing upon a stool, ™\£& 
something from a paper. When he had finished, the trumpet ^ g 
sounded again, and I knew there was a new King, for all th Q 
people shouted, "God save the King." Then for the firs Wb 
time since the fatal day, I felt re-assured ; and I went to bec^ 
that night free from the dread which had been instilled int<% ) 
my mind by a very judicious nurse, that Bonaparte mighty 
come in the dark; steal me and my little brother; and cook of , 
us for his Sunday dinner. . ie 

Soon after this I had frequent opportunities of seeing a L _ 
veritable Queen. The unfortunate Caroline, wife of George^ V 
the Fourth, lived at Blackheath, and drove occasionally in an I 
open carriage through the streets of Greenwich, and there 1^ [■ 
saw her. I have a perfect recollection of her face and figure.^ \ 
A very common-looking red face it was, and a very " dowdy V - 
figure. She wore al ways an enormous flat-brimmed ' ' Leghorn ' . , 
hat, trimmed with ostrich feathers. The remainder of her dresU g 
was gaudy, and, if one may say so of a Queen's attire, ratheii J | 
vulgar. She was, however, very popular in the neighbourhood n I 
and when, at her great trial, she was acquitted, the town ofj 
Greenwich was brilliantly illuminated. I remember, too, how^ 
she, having been snubbed at the coronation of her husbandry 
died of grief only three weeks afterwards, and how in thaf e I 
very month of August, 1821, which saw her death, her illustrious 
spouse set forth, amid much pomp and gaiety, on a festive 
journey to Ireland. 3 t 

In October, 1822, I saw the King himself, on his way tc i 
embark at Greenwich, for Scotland. I remember a double lme£ f 
of soldiers along the road, several very fussy horsemen riding tefl 
and fro, a troop of Cavalry, and a carriage, in which sat a ver^ • 
fat elderly man, with a pale flabby face, without beard or wins- g •. 
ker, but fringed with the curls of a large brown wig. That 1^ . 
all I remember, or care to remember, of George the Fourth, a 

A little more than ten years after that cold January day of^ ■ 
which I wrote, this King lay, dying, at Windsor. It was early ^ - 
summer, and I, a boy of fifteen, was one of a group of people^ 
who stood in front of a bookseller's shop at Guildford, readings 
a copy of a bulletin which had just arrived : " His Majesty has A 
passed a restless night; the symptoms have not abated:' As I 
turned away, I overheard a woman say, " The King '11 be sure | 



GOSSIP ABOUT EOTALTT. 39 

to die ; lie's got the symptoms, and I never knew anybody get 
over that" All at once the bells struck np a merry peal, and 
the Union Jack floated from the " Upper Church " tower. A 
crowd assembled round the " White Hart," and a dozen post- 
horses, ready harnessed, stood waiting in the street. Presently 
there was a sound of hoofs and wheels, and three carriages 
dashed rapidly up the hill, to the front of the hotel. The 
people waved their hats and shouted. The glass window 
of one of the carriages was let down, and a child's face and 
uncovered head appeared in the opening : it was the Princess 
Victoria, then eleven years old. A mass of golden curls ; a 
fair round face, with the full apple-shaped cheeks peculiar 
to the Gruelphs ; a pair of bright blue eyes ; an upper lip too 
short to cover the front teeth ; a pleasant smile ; and a graceful 
bending of the tiny figure as the carriage passed away, left 
favourable impressions of the future Queen. She had been 
summoned from the Isle of Wight to be near her uncle ; at 
whose death, a few days after — amid a storm of thunder and 
lightning, such as had not been known since the night when 
Cromwell died — his brother, the Duke of Clarence, was 
proclaimed King, and she became the Heiress Presumptive to 
the Crown of England. 

William the Fourth, with his good Queen, Adelaide, I 

saw once, as they rode in the great State carriage to the 

Handel commemoration, at Westminster Abbey, in June, 1834. 

9yhe King had a good-tempered, simple-looking face, without 

' much sign of intellectual power; the Queen's face was of 

Grecian shape, and had a thoughtful and intelligent expression. 

'he face and feat ares were good in form, but the complexion 

;as highly coloured, and looked as though affected by some 

hid of inflammation. They were a quiet, unpretending, well- 

. leaning, and moral couple. They purified the tainted precincts 

^jf the Court, and thus rendered it fit for the abode of the 

youthful and gracious lady who succeeded them. 

The next time I saw the Princess Victoria was in 1836. 
7t was on a day which, but for the firmness of Sir John 
9onroy, who acted as Equerry, might have been her last. At 
my rate, but for him, she would have been in great peril. I 
>vas standing in the High Street of Rochester; a fearful 
hurricane was blowing from the west ; chimney pots, tiles, and 
slates were flying in all directions, and the roaring of the 
wind, as it hurtled through the elms in the Deanery Garden, 



40 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

was loud as thunder. A strip of lead, two feet wide, the 
covering of a projecting shop window, rolled up like a ribbon, 
and fell into the street. At that moment three carriages, con- 
taining the Duchess of Kent, the Princess, and their suite, 
came by. They were on their way from Ramsgate to London, 
and a change of horses stood ready at the Bull Inn. Arriving 
there, a gentleman of the city approached Sir John, and 
advised him not to proceed further, telling him that if they 
attempted to cross Rochester bridge, the carriages might be 
upset by the force of the wind. The Royal travellers alighted, 
and Sir John proceeded to inspect the bridge. On his return, 
he advised the Duchess to stay, as the storm was raging 
fearfully, and the danger was imminent. The Princess, with 
characteristic courage, wanted to go on, but Sir John was firm,/ 
and he prevailed, for the journey onwards was postponed. IrJ L 
an hour from that time, nearly the whole of one parapets 
was lying in ruins upon the footway of the bridge, and the 
other had been blown bodily into the river underneath. Th^ > 
Royal party had to stay all night, and the inn at which thej r 
slept, henceforth took the additional title of "Victoria Hotel, y 
which it still retains. The journey was resumed next day, tlu 
horses being carefully led by grooms over the roadway of th( 
wall-less bridge. 

A few months after this, the Princess, at Kensingtoi 
Palace, was called from her bed, in the twilight of a summeil 
morning, and was greeted by the Archbishop of Canterbury 
and the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, as Queen of England . 
Her first act, as Queen, was to write, and despatch by a special ' * 
messenger to Windsor, an affectionate letter to her widowec j 
aunt, the Queen Dowager. From that time forward her danN / 
doings have been duly chronicled, and need not be dwelt upol I 
here ; but a few sketches, incidental to her own and the Princ/' { 
Consort's visits to Birmingham, will perhaps be interesting. \ 

When the Princess Victoria was a mere child, her excellent [ 
mother, in the course of a somewhat lengthy tour, brought he' ! 
to Birmingham, to see some of the principal manufactories i 
Arrangements were made for their stay at Willday's Hotel^ - 
now the Eye Hospital, in Temple Row. On the day they were) ; 
expected, a guard of honour, consisting of a company oij 
Infantry, was in attendance, and, pending the Royal arrivalA 
waited near the Rectory, in St. Philip's Churchyard. By a 
veiy singular chance, the officer then in command became, 



GOSSIP ABOUT ROYALTY. 41 

years after, the Rector of St. Philip's, and the occupier of the 
house before which he waited that day. He is now the Dean 
of Worcester, the Hon. and Rev. Grantham M. Torke. 

As the hour of the arrival of the Royal visitors approached^ 
the troops drew up in front of the hotel, and they presented 
arms as the carriage arrived. A great crowd had assembled. 
There were no police then, and order was badly kept. As the 
Princess alighted, a lady, standing near the door of the hotel 
(Mrs. Fairfax, who recently lived in Great Charles Street), 
moved by a sudden impulse, rushed forward, caught the 
Princess in her arms, and kissed her. The Duchess was 
annoyed, and the attendants, too, were very angry; but the 
crowd, recognising in the act only the " one touch of nature " 
that " makes the whole world kin," gave the adventurous lady 
a round of hearty cheering. 

It was many years after her accession that the Queen 
revisited the town, but the Prince Consort came frequently. 
His first visit was in 1843. Her Majesty and himself were the 
guests of Sir Robert Peel at Drayton Manor, and the Prince 
took the opportunity to come to Birmingham, to inspect some 
of the manufactories. There is reason to believe that the 
impressions he received that day were lasting, and that he 
ever afterwards took a very warm interest in the town and its 
various industries. Mr. Thomas Weston was Mayor at the time. 
He was a prosperous and very worthy man, possessing a large 
fund of common sense, but knowing little of courtly manners. 
\pf course, ' as Chief Magistrate, he accompanied the Prince 
through the town, and joined him at the luncheon provided at 
jthe Grammar School, by the Rev. J. P. Lee, the Head Master. 
After luncheon, the Prince, his Equerry, and the Lord- 
Lieutenant, took their seats in the carriage, but the Mayor 
was missing. Anxious looks were exchanged, and as minute 
(after minute went by, the attendants became impatient. The 
(Prince stood up in the carriage, and put on an overcoat. Still 
the Mayor didn't come. At length it oozed out that he had 
lost his hat. A dozen hats were offered at once on loan; but 
/the Mayor's head was a large one, and it was long before a hat 
! sufficiently capacious could be found. It came at last, how- 
'ever, and the Mayor, in a borrowed hat, came rushing out, 
much disconcerted, and full, evidently, of apologies, which the 
Prince, with much good nature, laughingly accepted. 

The next time he came to Birmingham was in 1849- 



42 PERSONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

At this time the area from Broad Street to Cambridge Street 
in one direction, and in the other from King Edward's 
to King Alfred's Place, now covered with buildings, was 
enclosed on all sides by a brick wall some ten feet high. 
Inside this wall there was a belt of trees all round, and a few 
"ancestral elms" were dotted here and there within the 
enclosure. About a hundred yards from the Broad Street wall 
stood a square house of red brick, built in the style of 
architecture current in the days of Queen Anne. It was 
known as Bingley House. Not far from the spot where 
the house now occupied by Mr. Mann, the surgeon, stands, 
was a carriage gate, leading to the dwelling. The grounds 
were laid out in park-like fashion, and so late as 1847 were 
abundantly tenanted by wild rabbits. The house had been 
occupied for a generation or two by the Lloyd family, but, 
about 1846 or 1847 they removed, and it was understood that 
the ground was shortly to be devoted to building purposes. 

In 1848, an exhibition of Birmingham manufactures was, 
projected : the idea, I believe, originating with the late Mr. 
Aitken. It was received with considerable favour, and 
strong committee being formed, a plan was soon matured foi 
carrying it into effect. Negotiations resulted in the tenancy 
for the purpose, of Bingley House and grounds. Very soon 
substantial timber building was seen rising within the wall 
near the corner of King Alfred's Place. In a few weeks i 
was covered in ; a broad corridor connected it with the old 
mansion ; and early in 1849 an exhibition, most interesting in 
its details, and artistic in its arrangement, was opened. The 
larger articles were displayed in the temporary building ; flat- 
exhibits covered the walls of the corridor ; and smaller 
matters were arranged, with great judgment, in the old-J | 
fashioned rooms of the house itself. , J 

The exhibition opened with great eclat. The buildings- 
were thronged from morning till night with gratified crowds. , 
Special reporters from the daily newspapers came down from 
London, and sent long and special reports for publication. 
The veteran magazine, now called The Art Journal, but then 
known as The Art Union, gave interesting accounts, with 
engravings of many of the articles on view, and the whole 
matter was a great and signal success. 

One morning the secretary received an intimation that 
Prince Albert was coming on the following day. Preparations 



GOSSIP ABOUT ROYALTY. 43 

on a suitable scale were at once commenced for his reception, 
and the principal exhibitors were invited to be in attendance. 
At the time appointed, the Prince, who had made a special 
-journey from London for the purpose, was met by the officials 
at the entrance, and conducted systematically through the 
place. He made a most minute and careful examination of 
the whole of the contents, took copious memoranda, and 
chatted familiarly with everybody. One remark I heard him 
make struck me as significant of the practical, observant 
character of his mind. Cocoa-fibre matting was then com- 
paratively unknown ; the stone steps of the old hall had been 
carpeted with this new material ; observing this, as he walked 
up the steps, the Prince turned to Mr. Aitken and said, 
" Capital invention this ; the only material I know of that 
wears better in a damp place than when dry." 

As he left the place on his return to London, he expressed, 
in cordial terms, his thanks for the attention shown him, and 
said he had " been very much pleased ; quite delighted, in 
fact," and so ended a visit which eventually led to the Great 
Exhibition of 1851, the Royal Commission for the establish- 
ment of which was gazetted January 3, 1850. _ 

The Prince came again, to lay the foundation stone of the 
Midland Institute buildings. On that occasion he accepted an 
invitation to a public luncheon in the Town Hall, and it was here 
that he delivered the celebrated speech which placed him at once 
in the foremost rank of philosophic thinkers. He was much 
pleased at his cordial reception on this occasion, and it is known 
that it had much to do in overcoming the avowed reluctance of 
the Queen to visit Birmingham, and was mainly instrumental 
in inducing her to consent to open Aston Hall and Park. 

The 15th of June, 1858, was eagerly looked forward to, for 
on that day the Queen was coming. Taking a lesson from 
continental practice, it was wisely resolved that individual 
attempts at decoration should be discouraged, and that the 
inhabitants of each street should combine for effective artistic 
arrangements. For the first time, I believe, in England, 
[ Venetian masts were a principal feature, where possible. Poles 
by hundreds, and flags by thousands, were sought in all 
directions. The Town Hall was placed in the hands of 
skilful decorators. The interior was, as yet, a mystery ; but 
the pediment fronting Paradise street was fitted with an 
enormous canvas-covered frame, upon which was emblazoned, 



44 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

in gorgeous, but proper heraldic style, the Royal Arms of 
England. All along the line of route through the town, 
and on the road to Aston, rose hundreds of galleries for 
spectators. Every one was busy in preparation, and nothing 
was omitted to make the scene as gay as possible. 

The morning of the day was fine and intensely hot. Each 
street had its own style of ornamentation, but the number of 
separate short lengths of the route, gave sufficient variety to 
avoid monotony. Bull Street, as seen from the bottom, seemed 
like a fairy scene from a theatre ; all looked gay and pleasant 
to the artistic eye. The Town Hall had been transformed into 
a gorgeous Throne Room, and was crowded with the elite of 
the neighbourhood. The Queen, as usual, was punctual, and 
took her seat under a regal canopy. A short reception was 
held. The Mayor knelt, and rose up a Knight. The mover 
and seconder of the address from the Corporation kissed hands. 
Poor Alderman Horatio Cutler, in his confusion at finding 
himself in so august a presence, forgot the customary bending ■ 
of the knee. In vain Lords in Waiting touched the back oi ? 
his leg with their wands to remind him. He had lost his 
presence of mind, and retired in utter confusion, amid a* , 
general but suppressed titter. 

Then came the journey to the Park, through the long linej[ \ 
of decorated streets ; the short ceremony at the Hall, and thab 
luncheon. Then the appearance in the gallery upon the roo|j ( : 
of the glass pavilion, where the Queen and Prince received.i , 
and acknowledged gracefully, the plaudits of the spectators ; j 
and finally came the announcement by Sir Francis Scott, that 
he had received " Her Majesty's gracious commands to declare, J} 
in her name, that the Park was now open." 

At the door of departure, her Majesty, in thanking the 'i 
Mayor for the arrangements made for her comfort and con-i *| 
venience, was pleased to say that she had never before beei^ m 
greeted with such enthusiastic loyalty, and that the decorations ' 
had exceeded in beauty anything of the kind she had ever seen.- 

I have never seen the Queen since. Her photographs, 
however, show me that, although she has twenty-seven grand- 
children, and has been Queen of England for more than forty 
years, she is still a comely matron, with every appearance of 
health and vigour. Long may she remain so ! Long may she 
continue to be, as now, the kindly, sympathetic, motherly head 
of a contented, loyal, and united people. 



45 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS 

OLD AND NEW. 



AT the close of the French war in 1814, the Bank of England 
commenced preparations for the return to specie payments. 
Immediate "tightness " in the money market was the result. 
Prices fell. Trade became dull. Credit was injured. The 
return of peace seemed, to the unthinking, a curse rather 
than a blessing. Alarming riots were frequent, and general 
distress and discontent existed. The Government, in some 
-alarm, resolved to postpone the resumption of cash payments 
until 1819. 

In the meantime, the subject of the proper regulation ol the 
currency underwent a good deal of discussion, and in the year 
1819 the Act known as " Peel's Bill " was passed. It provided 
that after 1821 the bank should be compelled to pay its notes 
<in bullion at the rate of £3 17s. 10jd. per ounce, and that 
Rafter 1823 holders of notes might demand at the bank current 

coin of the realm in exchange. The same Act abolished the 

negal tender of silver for any sum beyond forty shillings. 

f This made matters worse. Banks became more stringent. 

Prices of all commodities fell. Numbers of people were thrown 
lout of work. Poor's rates increased in amount and frequency, 

and general discontent prevailed. Corn and agricultural 

produce no longer fetched war prices. Landlords insisted 

upon retaining war rents, which farmers were unable to pay. 
'To meet this difficulty, Parliament passed the Corn Laws, 
•hoping thereby to keep up prices. These new laws produced 

the contrary effect. Wheat fell from 12s. to 5*. the bushel. 

Rents could not be collected. Mortgages upon land could not 
I be redeemed, and land became practically unsaleable. 



46 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Things at length attained such a condition, that Govern- 
ment Ibecame seriously alarmed, and brought into Parliament 
five distinct money bills in one night. These bills were 
hurried through both Houses as fast as the forms of Parliament 
would allow. All of them had for their object the relaxation 
of the stringency of the money laws ; and one Act permitted 
the issue of one pound notes for ten years longer, i.e., to 1833. 

Trade immediately revived. Labour became abundant, and 
everyone, high or low, in the country, felt immediate relief 
and benefit. Unfortunately, with the return to prosperity 
came the usual unwise rebound in public feeling. Everything 
became couleur de rose. The wildest joint stock enterprises 
were projected. Capital, obtained on easy terms of credit;, 
was forced into every branch of commerce. Trade was 
pushed beyond legitimate requirements. Imports of cotton, 
wine, and silk increased so far beyond their usual amount., 
that the rates of exchange turned against this country. The 
Bank of England, in self-defence, "put on the screw." Money 
invested in distant countries, in speculative operations, waf 
now badly wanted at home. Suspicion arose, and confidence 
was shaken. Merchants, in default of their usual help fro: 
bankers, suspended payment. Bankers themselves, havin: 
depended upon the return of their former advances, were i: 
great peril. Alarm having become general, there was 
simultaneous run for gold throughout the country, with th 
result that in a very short time seventy-nine banks stopped 
payment, of which no fewer than fifty-nine became bankrupt. 
The whole kingdom was in a frightful state of consternation^ 
Failure followed failure in rapid succession. The whole J 
circulation of the country was deranged, and at the beginning I 
of December, 1825, the Bank of England stock of cash I 
amounted only to a very few thousand pounds. 

Ministers were called together in haste, and Cabinet 
Councils were daily held. It was decided to issue two millions 1 
sterling of Exchequer bills, upon which the bank was authorised 
to issue an equal amount of notes. The bank was also 
"recommended" to make advances of a further sum of 
three millions, upon the security of produce and general, 
merchandise. 

At this moment a fortunate discovery was made which did 
more to allay the excitement than the measures just mentioned. 
The bank had ceased to issue one pound notes six years before, 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 47 

and it was thought that they had all been destroyed. Acci- 
dentally, and most opportunely, when things were at the worst, 
one of the employes of the Bank, in searching a store-room, 
found a case of the £1 unissued notes, which had escaped 
observation at the time of the destruction. They were at once 
issued to the public, by whom they were hailed with delight, 
as the first "bit of blue" in the monetary sky. Under these 
re-assuring circumstances the panic soon subsided, but it left 
its blighting legacy of misery, ruin, diminished credit, and 
general embarrassment. 

The banking laws were soon after altered. The Bank of 
England was induced to forego its exclusive monopoly of 
having more than six proprietors, and the formation of joint 
stock banks consequently became possible. A new era in 
banking commenced, which, modified from time to time, has 
existed down to the present time. 

It will be seen that the close of the war, in 1814, was the 
xmmencement of the great and violent monetary changes 
-have attempted to describe. There were then six banks in 
irmingham. Two of these are altogether extinct ; the other 
jur have merged into existing banks. For convenience sake, 
will sketch the extinct banks first, and afterwards show the 
rocesses by which the others have been incorporated with 
listing institutions. 

' At the period mentioned, the firm of Smith, Gray, Cooper, 

ad Co. had the largest banking business in the town. They 

arried on their operations in the premises in Union Street 

tow occupied by the Corporation as offices for their gas 

epartment. This bank did a large business with merchants 

tad wholesale traders, and it " was a very useful bank." After 

Veral changes, the firm became Gibbins, Smith, and Goode. 

. vU the great panic of 1825, one of their customers, a merchant 

lamed Wallace, failed, owing them £70,000. This, with 

ther severe losses, brought them down. They failed for a 

ery large amount. Such, however, had been their actual 

iability, that, after all their losses, and after payment of the 

:>sts of their bankruptcy, the creditors received a dividend of 

ineteen shillings and eightpence in the pound. Mr. Smith, 

i this firm, was a man of great shrewdness and probity, and 

vas greatly esteemed by his friends. The late Mr. Thomas 

(Jpfill had, in his dining-room, an excellent life-size portrait 

& Mr. Smith, taken, probably, about the year 1820. This 



48 PEESONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

portrait is now in the possession of a lady at Harborne. 
The face is a shrewd and observant one, and it always 
struck me as having a remarkable likeness to the great 
James Watt, the engineer. Of Mr. Gibbins and Mr. Goode 
we shall hear more as we go on, but " Smith's Bank " became 
extinct. 

The firm of Galton, Galton, and James had their offices in 
the tall building in Steelhouse Lane, opposite the Children's 
Hospital. They weathered the storm of 1825, but, some 
years later on, Mr. James accepted the post of manager 
of the Birmingham Banking Company, whereupon the re- 
maining partners retired into private life, and the bank was 
closed. 

Messrs. Freer, Eotton, Lloyds, and Co. had offices in New 
Street, now pulled down. They had a large number of cus- 
tomers, principally among the retail traders and the smaller 
manufacturers. The firm underwent several changes, beinl.g 
altered to Rotton, Onion, and Co., then Rotton and Scholcs- 
field, and finally to Rotton and Son. The banking office, Ln 
the meantime, had been removed to the corner of Steelhouse 
Lane, in Bull Street. Upon the death of the elder Mj. . 
Rotton, the business was transferred to the National Provii? - 
cial Bank of England, Mr. Henry Rotton becoming managefer. 
This gentleman, whose death only recently occurred, held thfis 
position for many years, and was universally respected. Huis 
mental organisation was, however, too refined and feminin] e 
to battle with the rough energy of modern trading. Thf e 
bank, under his management, was tolerably successful, but 4 ,: t 
remained a small and somewhat insignificant concern in co^S , 
parison with others. An arrangement, satisfactory on .^ 
sides, was at length entered into, under which he resigned h' 
appointment. His successor is Mr. J. L. Porter, a man 1 ' i 
different stamp. Under his sturdy and vigorous managemei ' i 
the business has rapidly increased. The premises were socr j 
found too small. They were, shortly after he came, pulle ; <j 
down, and the present magnificent banking house in Bennetf f 
Hill was built upon the site of its somewhat ugly and badh | 
contrived predecessor. "l ■ ' 

The firm of Coates, Woolley, and Gordon occupied, ill 
1815, the premises in Cherry Street now held by the Worces-I 
ter City and County Bank. The business was, at a date I 
cannot learn, transferred to Moilliet, Smith, and Pearson, and 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 49 

;his was subsequently changed to J. L. Moilliet and Sons, who 
carried the business on for niany years, finally transferring it 
;o Lloyds and Company Limited. This company removed it 
>o their splendid branch establishment in Ann Street. Mr. 
Moilliet, the senior partner in the Cherry Street Bank, was a 
Swiss by birth, and lived in Newhall Street. In a warehouse 
it the back of his residence, he carried on the business of a 
continental merchant. The mercantile firm became afterwards 
Moilliet and Gem, who removed it to extensive premises in 
Charlotte Street. Here, under the firm of E. Gfem and Co., 
t is still carried on. 

Taylor and Lloyd's Bank was established in 1765, at the 
corner of Bank Passage in Dale End. Mr. Taylor had been 
b very successful manufacturer of japanned goods, and made 
b very large number of snuff-boxes, then in universal use. 
:Ie produced, among others, a style which was very popular, 
tnd the demand for which became enormous. They were of 
various colours and shapes, their peculiarity consisting entirely 
n the ornamentation of the surface. Each had a bright 
coloured ground, upon which was a very extraordinary wavy 
style of ornament of a different shade of colour, showing 
treaks and curves of the two colours alternately, in such an 
nfinity of patterns, that it was said that no two were ever 
^ind alike. • Other makers tried in vain to imitate them; 
low it was done" became an important question. The 
stery increased, when it became known that Mr. Taylor 
amented them all with his own hands, in a room to which 
one else was admitted. The fortunate discoverer of the 
et soon accumulated a large fortune, and he used to 
ckle, years after, as he told that the process consisted in 
aring the second coat of colour, while still wet, with the 
q by part of his thumb, which happened to have a peculiarly 
n or coarse "grain." It will be seen at once that in this 
he could produce an infinite variety. Mr. Lloyd, the 
er partner, belonged to a very old Welsh family, which, as 
ded proprietors, had been settled for generations near 
nsantfraid, in Merionethshire. There are some very ancient 
numents of the ancestors of this family in the parish church 
ere. 

Somewhere about twenty-five years ago, the business was 
moved to the present premises in High Street, and a few 
rs later on, the death — at Brighton — by his own hand, of 



p 



50 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

Mr. Taylor, left the business entirely vested in the Lloyd family. 
About ten or twelve years ago it was decided to convert it into 
a limited liability company, and a very searching examination 
was made by public accountants, as a preliminary step. Just 
as the thing was ripe, the stoppage of the Birmingham Banking 
Company was announced. This deferred the project for a time, 
but the Messrs. Lloyd, with great judgment, published the 
accountants' report. As soon as the excitement had abated, 
the prospectus was issued. The shares were eagerly subscribed 
for, and the company was formed. Moilliet's bank was 
included in the operation, and the bank, under the able 
presidency of Mr. Sampson Lloyd, commenced the energetic 
course of action which has resulted in its becoming the largest 
banking concern in the Midland Counties. 

I cannot at the moment ascertain the date of the f ormatic m 
of the firm of Attwood, Spooner, and Co., but in 1815 the 
partners appear to have been the three brothers — Thon ,s 
Matthias, and George Attwood, and Mr. Richard Spoor^ r.' 
Matthias Attwood seceded, and went to London. Of Thon"" s' 
it is unnecessary to say one word to Birmingham people ; 'pis 
statue in our principal street shows that he was considered^ to 
be no^ common man. He was one of the first Members flap 
Birmingham upon its incorporation, and was re-elected ^m 
1837. Although he had been so great and successful ai 
popular political leader, he made no "way" in Parliame: 
and soon after the riots of 1839 he retired, being succeeded 
Mr. George Frederick Muntz. The last time I saw Mr. Attwo 
was in 1849, at the exhibition in Bingley House. He 
then a thin, wasted, and decrepit old man. It was abrs 
this time that he retired from the bank. K$ I 

George Attwood— his brother— was a man of differ^' * j 
type. He was not a politician. He was, in his best da t V 
energetic, prompt, and far-seeing. As he advanced in ye tf£ s 
he became fond of the pleasures of the table, and the quails iy 
of his ^port^ wine became proverbial. His intellect beca^ne 

o le 
i f nt, 




dimmed, but his spirit of enterprise was active as ever. J 
speculated in mines and other property to a very large exte 



and had not, as of old, the clear head to manage'them properly ly. 
There is little reason to doubt that here lies the secret of tfctf he 
failure of the bank some years later. V* 

Richard Spooner was a remarkable man in many respedJU s. 
Like many others who in their later years have become " ran|;^k 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 51 

Tories," lie began his political life as a Liberal, contesting the 
town of Stafford unsuccessfully in that interest. After the 
change in his views, he, upon the death of Mr. Joshua 
Scholefield, in July, 1844, was elected to be one of the Members 
for Birmingham, in opposition to the candidature of Mr. 
William Scholefield. At the general election in August, 1847, 
this decision w T as reversed ; and Mr. Spooner, to this day, is 
remembered as having been the only Conservative Member 
Birmingham ever sent to Parliament. 

Mr. Spooner was afterwards chosen to represent North 
Warwickshire, a position he held until his death, at the great 
age of 85, in November, 1S64. He was quite blind for some 
years before his death. He had a great horror of photo- 
graphers, and refused all requests to sit for his portrait. One 
was at length obtained surreptitiously. On a fine summer 
day, he was persuaded, for the sake of the fresh air, to take a 
seat in the yard, which then existed at the back of the bank. 
Mr. Whitlock was in attendance, and succeeded, greatly to the 
delight of Mr. SjDOoner's friends, in obtaining a very good 
portrait of the blind old man, as he sat there, perfectly 
unconscious of what was going on. I believe this was the 
only portrait ever taken. 

At the death of Mr. George Attwood — which preceded 
that of Mr. Spooner by some years — the firm had been 
re-constituted, and became Attwood, Spooner, Marshalls, and 
Co. The partners in the new firm were Mr. Thomas 
Aurelius Attwood, Mr. R. Spooner, and Messrs. William and 
Henry Marshall, who had been clerks in the bank all their 
lives. The deaths, in a comparatively short period, of Mr. T. 
A. Attwood and Mr. W. Marshall, followed soon after by that 
of Mr. Spooner, left Mr. Henry Marshall the only surviving 
member of this firm. 

Soon after Mr. Spooner's death, it was announced that an 
amalgamation of this bank with the Birmingham Joint Stock 
Bank in Temple Row had been agreed upon, and satisfaction 
with this arrangement was universally expressed. On Saturday 
March 10, 1865 — only four months after Mr. Spooner's decease— 
the town, and in faci the whole country, was electrified by 
the announcement that the bank had stopped payment. People 
were incredulous, as it had been thought to be one of the 
saf st banks in the kingdom. An excited crowd surrounded 
the i bank premises during the whole day, and a strong force 



52 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

of police was in attendance to preserve order. In the course of 
the day a circular was issued, of which the following is a copy : 

" It is with feelings of the deepest concern and distress that we 
announce that we are compelled to suspend payment, and this at the 
moment when, after several months of anxious negotiation, we had 
confidently trusted we should obtain such assistance as would enable 
us to carry into effect, on our part, the preliminary agreement for the 
amalgamation of the bank with the Birmingham Joint Stock Bank. 
In this hope we have been disappointed. Sums of money to a large 
amount were drawn out of the bank some years since by the family 
of the Attwoods. To this circumstance it can be clearly shown, at 
the proper time, our failure is to be attributed. For the last ten 
years every effort has been made to redeem the loss thus occasioned, 
but this has only been partially accomplished. The assets of the bank 
are, however, still very considerable, and there are real estates of great 
value belonging to the bank, and but slightly encumbered. We hope 
that in now suspending payment we shall be considered as taking 
the best and only step to ensure a just and equal distribution of our 
assets among our creditors." 

Upon a full investigation of the state of affairs, it was 
found that the total amount of liabilities amounted to the large 
sum of £1,007,000, and that the assets consisted chiefly of 
landed and mining properties of a very speculative nature. 
There was also a very large amount of overdrawn balances 
due from customers. After many projects had been launched, 
it was announced that the committee of investigation had, 
subject to the approval of the general body of creditors, 
disposed of the entire assets to the directors of the Joint Stock 
Bank, they undertaking to pay the creditors of Attwood 
and Co., in immediate cash, a dividend of lis. 3d. in the 
pound. This arrangement was carried into effect, ard 
"Attwood's Bank" became a memory only. Mr. Henry 
Marshall is, however, still living in retirement at Weston- 
super-Mare, and is, notwithstanding his great age, in vigorous 
health, both of mind and body. i 

The old familiar premises have now, too, passed kway. 
The inconvenient old office, with its rows of leather buckets, 
and its harmless array of antiquated blunderbuses ; its/ old- 
fashioned desks, dark with age, and begrimed witli ink 
spattered by successive generations of bygone clerks;', the 
low ceiling and quaint elliptic arches ; the little fire-place ;near 
the counter, where Aurelius Attwood, with his good-huniotared 
face, used to stand warming his coat-tails, and greeting the 
customers as they came in, were all so much in harn !ony 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 53 

with, the staid, gray-headed clerks, and the quiet, methodical 
ways of the place, that when there, one might fancy he had 
stepped back for fifty years, or was looking upon a picture by 
Hogarth. 

It was stated a few pages back that the Bank of England, 
after the great panic of 1825, consented to forego their exclu- 
sive privilege of joint-stock banking. This, however, was not 
done without an equivalent, for the Act of 1826, ratifying this 
consent, gave them the power of establishing branch banks in 
the large towns of England. In pursuance of the powers thus 
granted, the first branch was opened at Gloucester on July 
19th of that year. Others were started at Manchester, Sep- 
tember 21st, and Swansea, October 23rd. On New Year's 
Day, 1827, the Branch Bank of England commenced business 
in Birmingham, occupying the premises of the defunct firm of 
Gibbins, Smith, and Goode, in Union Street, now the Gas 
Offices of the Corporation. The first manager was Captain 
Nichols, who brought with him, from the parent bank, a staff 
of clerks. One of these, a mere youth at the time, was 
destined to fill an important position in the town and in the 
country. This was Charles Geach ; a very remarkable man, of 
whom I shall have more to say by and by. 

Captain Mchols was succeeded by Captain Tindal, brother 
of the illustrious jurist, Lord Chief Justice Tindal. During 
this gentleman's tenure of office the business was removed to 
the premises in Bennetts Hill, vacated by the unfortunate 
"Bank of Birmingham," of which more hereafter. Here the 
business has ever since been conducted. 

Captain Tindal was a good man of business, and under his 
management the bank was very prosperous. He was a man 
of highly-cultivated mind. He took a very active interest in 
all local matters connected with literature and art, and he was 
a very liberal patron of the drama. Those who had the 
pleasure of being present at the pleasant soirees at his house, 
to which he was accustomed to invite the literary and artistic 
notabilities of the neighbourhood, will not easily forget how 
pleasantly the evenings passed; how everyone enjoyed the 
charades and theatricals which were so excellently managed 
by the gifted Miss Keating, then a governess in the family ; 
hov ti , too, everyone was charmed with the original and con- 
venient arrangement for supplying visitors with refreshments. 
Inr'jead of the conventional "sit-down suppers " of those days, 



54 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Captain Tindal had refreshment counters and occasional tables 
dotted here and there, so that his friends took what they 
pleased, at the time most convenient to themselves. One 
room was very popular. Within its hospitable portals, hungry 
bipeds of the male persuasion were supplied, to their intense 
satisfaction, with abundant oysters, and unlimited foaming 
Dublin stout. Oysters were then five shillings the barrel of 
ten dozens ! Tempora mutantur ; spero meliora ! 

It was a great loss to social and artistic Birmingham when 
Captain Tindal was removed to London, twenty-one years ago. 
The Bank of England opened a "West End" branch, in 
Burlington Gardens, London, and the Captain was appointed 
its first manager. This new branch was opened October 1st, 
1856. The resolution of the Board of Directors to appoint 
Mr. Tindal to this position seems to have been taken suddenly, 
for Mr. Chippindale, who had been sub-manager for some 
years, and was now placed at the head of the Birmingham 
branch, did not know of it until he was informed of his appoint- 
ment by a customer of the bank. This gentleman, who was a 
merchant in the town, tells me that he " was the first to tell him 
of it. He said it was not true, and he must go out and con- 
tradict it. I told him I knew it was true, but even then he 
was incredulous." Mr. Chippindale has recently retired, and 
has been succeeded by Mr. F. F. Barham. 

Soon after Mr. Chippindale's appointment, a friend of 
mine received from New York a large sum in four months' 
bills upon Glasgow, which he wished to discount. He was 
well known in Birmingham, but had no regular banking 
account. The bank rate in London was four per cent. He took 
the bills first to the National Provincial Bank, where Mr. 
Henry Rotton offered to "do " them at four-and-a-half. This 
he thought too high, and he next took them to the Bank of 
England. Mr. Chippindale told him that the rule of the bank 
was not to discount anything having more than ninety days to 
run ; but, if he left the bills as security, he could draw against 
them for the cash he wanted, and, as soon as the bills «ame 
within the ninety days' limit, they could be discounted a-ifc the 
London rate of the day. This arrangement was entered \ nto, 
but, unfortunately for my friend, a sudden turn in the market 
sent the rate up three per cent, within the month, so that, ^Mien 
the transaction was completed, he had to pay seven per cent. 
It made a difference to him of between £200 and £300. 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 55 

From the time of Mr. Cliippinclale's appointment, the 
branch bank has gone quietly on in its useful course. It does 
not compete much with the other banks in general business ; 
indeed, its office seems to be rather that of a bank for bankers. 
Now that none of the local banks issue their own notes, it is 
a great convenience to them to have on the spot a store of 
Bank of England paper, available at a moment's notice, to 
any required amount. 

The ten years from 1826 were very fruitful of joint stock 
banks in Birmingham. Some have survived, but many are 
almost forgotten. I will mention the defunct ones first. The 
" Bank of Birmingham " was promoted by a Quaker gentle- 
man, named Pearson. He had been, I believe, a merchant in 
the town, but was afterwards a partner in the firm of Moilliet 
Smith, and Pearson, from which he seems to have retired at 
the same time as his partner, the well-known Mr. Timothy 
Smith. The Bank of Birmingham started with high aims and 
lofty expectations. The directors built for their offices the 
substantial edifice on Bennetts Hill, now occupied as the 
Branch Bank of England, and they prepared for a very large 
business. They, however, much as they may have been 
respected, and successful as most of them undoubtedly were 
in their private affairs, were not men of large capacity, and 
they had not the quick and sound judgment of character and 
circumstances necessary in banking. Nor were they very 
fortunate in their manager. Mr. Pearson, although he might 
have been taken as a model of honesty, truthfulness, and 
straightforwardness, was a phlegmatic, heavy man, and his 
manners were, to say the least, unprepossessing. The bank 
was not a success. Negotiations were, a few years after, 
entered into, and arrangements resulted, by which the Bir- 
mingham Banking Company took over the business, on the 
basis of giving every shareholder in the Bank of Birmingham 
a certain reduced amount of stock in their own bank, in 
exchange. 

Some time before the transfer took place, a member of one 
of the most respected and influential mercantile families in 
the neighbourhood suspended payment, owing a large sum to the 
Bank of Birmingham, upon which he paid a composition. He 
afterwards prospered, and some twenty-five years afterwards, 
all those shareholders in the defunct bank who still held, in the 
Birmingham Banking Company, the shares they had been 



56 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 



allotted m exchange at the time of the transfer, receive 
cheques for the deficiency, with interest thereon for the whol 
period it had been unpaid. A relative of my own received, i, 
this way, several hundred pounds. I am not aware that thi 
circumstance has ever been made public, but it is due to th, 
memory of the late Mr. Robert Lucas Chance that so praise, 
worthy an act should be on record. 

Mr. Pearson, after the closing of the bank, commenced 
business as a sharebroker, which he continued until his death. 
He was one of the last to retain, in all its rigour, the 
peculiar dress of the Society of Friends. His stout, broad- 
set figure, with the wide-brimmed hat, collarless coat, drab 
theses and gaiters, will be remembered by many readers. 
The Commercial Bank had offices at the corner of Ann 
— t and „ B " s Hill Mr. John Stubbs was an active 
promoter of his bank and Mr. James Graham was manager. 
It had a short life. Mr. Graham went to America, and died 
somewhere on the banks of the Mississippi. 

HiJ ^, Ta f mW01 ' th , B f 1 nk r g Com 1^7 ^ened a branch in' 
High Street opposite the bottom of Bull Street. It was open 
as late as 1838 but was eventually given up, and the premises 

Iw 6 ?°T"W w S - SySOn as a hosier ' s sh °P> nntfl pulled 
down for the Great Western Railway tunnel 

d P w e tfi B ° r0U f g ^M ank ^ P romoted V Mr. Goode, of the! 
wi hTl, % m i°, Glbblns L Smith , ^ Goode. It was connected 
with the Northern and Central Bank of England. The office 
was in Bull Street m the premises now held by Messrs. J. and 
B- Smith, Carpet Factors. This bank was unsuccessful, and ; 

TW v • ? ' ^ u G °° de °P eued a discounting office in the 
Upper Priory, which proved to be successful After a few 
years Mr. Goode took as partner his son-in-law, Mr. Marr, a 
Scotchman, who had been engaged in an Indian bank for 

unZ y T S i J" 1 " fi T theU b6Came Goode ' Ma "> ^d Co., 
under which designation it is still carried on. The present 

gent eman upon whom a violent murderous attack was made 
™» fV £ W ?"? ag0 ' Mr - Goode > tke courteous 
rS°er %£&"* ^ Midland Bank > is ^ f <* 

S m , I fh WiD ! 1 e n emem n ered 1 that in 182S tue fi ™ of Gib'ius, 
fZ ' A*t C °-, coIla P s e°- As soon as their affairs Lre 
arranged, Mr. Gibbms and a nephew of his, named Lct-ell 






BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 57 

vpened a bank in New Street, on the spot where Mr. Whitehead 
iow has his shop, at the corner of Bennetts Hill. Here for 
^me two or three years they appear to have done very well ; 
• : n fact the business became too large for their capabilities. 
3ome of the leading men of the town, with the return of 
•prosperity, began to see that there was. ample room for greater 
banking facilities than the then existing private banks could 
provide. Negotiations were accordingly entered into for the 
ourrhase of this business, and for its conversion into a joint 
stock bank. Terms were very soon provisionally settled, and 
the prospectus of the Birmingham Banking Company was 
issued. The capital was fixed at £500,000, in 10,000 shares of 
£50 each, of which £5 per share was to be immediately called 
up. The list of directors contained, among others, the names 
of Charles Shaw, William Chance, Frederic Ledsam, Joseph 
Gibbins, and John Mabson. The shares were readily taken by 
the public, and on September 1st, 1829, the company com- 
menced operations on the premises of Gribbins and Lovell. It 
was decided, however, to build a suitable banking house, and 
in a very short time the building standing at the corner 
of Waterloo Street was erected. Before removing to the new 
bank, the directors made overtures to Mr. Paul Moon James, 
of the firm of Gralton and Co., which resulted in that bank 
being closed, and Mr. James becoming manager of the Banking 
Company. With such directors, and with so able and so 
popular a man for the manager, the progress of the bank was 
very rapid, and it soon had the largest banking business in the 
town. In a few years the reputation which Mr. James had 
obtained as a successful banker induced the directors of a new 
bank at Manchester to make him a very lucrative offer. Much 
to the regret of his Birmingham directors, and indeed to the 
whole public of the town, he accepted the offer, and shortly 
afterwards removed to Manchester. He retained the position 
of manager there until his death. Mr. James was something 
more than a mere man of business. He had a cultured mind, 
and took a very active part in educational questions. This 
very day, on looking over an old book, I found his name as 
the Birmingham representative of a leading literary association 
of my younger days, the " Society for the Diffusion of Useful 
Knowledge " — a society which, with Lord Brougham for 
chairman and Charles Knight for its most active member, did 
much to create good, wholesome, cheap literature, and pub- 



58 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

^S 

lislied, among many other works, the " Penny Magazine " and 
the "Penny Cyclopaedia." 

After Mr. James left Birmingham, the directors of the 
Banking Company appointed Mr. William Beaumont to be 
his successor. A Yorkshireman by birth, he had resided for 
some time in Wolverhampton, filling a responsible position 
in one of the banks there. Mr. Beaumont remained manager 
of the Birmingham Banking Company until his death in 1863, 
having filled the office for more than a quarter of a century. 
During his life the bank had a very high reputation, and paid 
excellent dividends. It had squally weather occasionally, of 
course, but it weathered all storms. It was in great jeopardy 
in the great panic of 1837. It held at that time, drawn by one 
of its customers upon a Liverpool house, four bills for £20,000 
each, and one for £10,000. It held besides heavy draughts 
upon the same firm by other houses, and the acceptors — failing 
remittances from America — were in great straits. Mr. Charles 
Shaw, the chairman of this bank, saw the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer and the Governor of the Bank of England, and 
averted the impending calamity. But for timely aid, the 
Liverpool firm must have stopped, to the ruin of half the 
country. The bank had another sharp turn of it from 1842 to 
1844, when bar iron fell from £12 per ton to £6 ; but it overcame 
all its difficulties until the retirement of Mr. Shaw and the 
death of Mr. Beaumont. 

From this time forward there seems to have been great 
want of a strong head and a steady eye amongst the directors. 
The plausibilities of Mr. W. H. Beaumont — who had succeeded 
his father as manager — seem to have put them off their 
guard, and they followed where he led until it ended in ruin. 
It is useless now to say all one knows, or a quarter of what 
has been said ; but it has always been my opinion, and always 
will be, that if Charles Shaw, or a man with half his courage 
and ability, had been at the helm, the Bank would not have 
closed its doors. Had they only sought counsel of their larger 
shareholders, there was amongst them one man, still living, who 
not only could, but would, have saved the bank from shipwreck. 

Few men in Birmingham are likely to forget " Ej>lack 
Saturday," the 14th of July, 1866. Had a French army 
suddenly opened a bombardment of the town from High&'ate, 
it would possibly not have caused greater astonishment j and 
dismay. That very week shares had been sold on the Sfcock 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 59 

Exchange at a high premium. ; and now, by the culpable weak- 
ness of a few unquestionably honest and well-intentioned 
gentlemen, the hard-earned life's savings of aged and infirm 
men, the sole dependence of scores of widows and hundreds 
of orphans, was utterly gone. No wonder that pious, God- 
fearing men ground their teeth and muttered curses, or that 
women, pale and trembling, tore their hair in wild terror, 
while some poor sorrowing creatures sought refuge in suicide. 
No wonder that even now, more than eleven years after, the 
memory of that day still rises, like a hideous dream, in the 
minds of thousands. 

I have been shown a copy of a lithographed daily news- 
paper, printed on board the " Great Eastern " steamship, then 
engaged in laying the first successful Atlantic cable. In the 
number for July 14th, is an account of the stoppage of this 
bank, which had been telegraphed to the ship in mid-ocean 
by means of the cable then being submerged. 

Upon full investigation it was ascertained that the total 
liabilities amounted to £1,805,469 10s. hd. All the capital 
was lost. A call of £10 per share was made upon the un- 
fortunate shareholders, and the debts were paid. Some time 
afterwards the new " limited " company which had been formed 
upon the ruins of the defunct bank took over some unrealised 
assets, and this resulted in a return of £1 per share, leaving a 
clear total loss, taking the shares at the market price, of £43 
per share. 

On Thursday, July 19th, a meeting of the shareholders 
was held in the large room at the Exchange, nearly 500 
being present. Mr. Edwin Yates, the Mayor, presided, and in 
his opening remarks pointed out that the resuscitation of the 
bank was impossible, for various reasons which he mentioned. 
The discussion which followed was marked by great modera- 
tion. There was little excitement, and not much expression 
of angry feeling. Mr. William Holliday, in a very masterly 
speech of great length, showed the difficulties in the way of 
reviving the bank, and suggested that the only way of saving 
the property of the shareholders, was by the establishment of 
a new bank on the ruins of the old, the shareholders in which 
were to have priority in the allotment of shares. This, having 
been discussed by several speakers, was eventually decided 
upon, and a committee was appointed to carry the resolutions 
into effect. 



60 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

The new bank, under the name of the " Birmingham 
Banking Company Limited," was formed with all speed. 
Josiah Mason — then plain Mister — was the first chairman, and 
Mr. T. F. Shaw manager. The shares "came out" at a small 
premium, from which they gradually rose. From that time it 
has gone on steadily and surely. It has secured a good clientele, 
and is doing a large and profitable business. It pays good 
dividends, and its shares stand well in the market. Mr. Shaw 
retired, from " continued ill health," in May, 1876. Mr. P. 
W. Walker was appointed manager pro tem., and at the end 
of the year, Mr. James Leigh, who had been manager of the 
Birmingham branch of the Worcester Bank, took the helm. 
May the bank under his guidance have, fortitudine et prudentia, 
a long career of prosperity and usefulness before it ! 

I shall now have to go back again to the year 1836. At 
this time trade was good and everything looked prosperous. 
Mr. Geach, who was still a clerk in the Bank of England, 
conceived the idea of starting a fresh bank, and having secured 
the adhesion of a few influential men, the prospectus was issued 
of the Town and District Bank, capital £500,000, in 25,000 
shares of £20 each. The shares were taken up readily, and 
the branch commenced business in Colmore Row, on the 1st of 
July, 1836. The directors were Messrs. George Bacchus 
(chairman), Edward Armfield, Greorge J. Green, Greorge C. 
Lingham, John G. Beeves, Josiah Richards, and Philip 
Williams. 

Although the bank had been started entirely through the 
exertions of Mr. Geach, who naturally expected to be appointed 
the manager, he was left out in the cold, and the appointment 
fell upon Mr. Bassett Smith. This gentleman had been a clerk 
to the firm of Gibbins, Smith, and Co., until their stoppage, 
and he afterwards was manager of a bank at Walsall, which 
appointment he threw up when he came to the District Bank. 
He held his position as manager here for many years, but 
was eventually induced to retire. He certainly was not a 
great banking genius. He was led more by impulse and 
feeling than by sound business judgment and coolness, and he 
often made mistakes in his estimate of the customers. Some — 
whom he liked — would "get on" easily enough, while others, 
equally worthy of attention, might ask in vain for slight 
accommodation. Nor was his manner judicious. I was in the 
bank one day, when a highly respectable man brought some 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 61 

bills to the counter to be placed to bis account. The clerk 
took them to Mr. Smith, who was near the counter ; he turned 
them over in his hand, and giving them back to the clerk, 
with a contemptuous gesture, said, loud enough to be heard by 
everyone there, "No! — a thousand times no!" Had the 
customer been a swindler he could not have been treated with 
greater insult and contumely. It was a fortunate thing for 
the bank when Mr. Barney became manager. "From that time 
the bank has assumed its proper position. Under its new 
designation of the " Birmingham and Dudley District Banking 
Company " it has taken rapid strides. There is every reason 
now for thinking it is highly prosperous, and is likely to have 
a future of great use and profit. The new premises are an 
ornament to an ornamental part of the town, and are very 
conveniently arranged; but to people with weak eyes, the 
light from the windows, glaring in the face as one stands at 
the counter, is most unpleasant, and some steps to modify 
its effect might be judiciously taken. 

Immediately after Mr. Bassett Smith had been appointed 
manager of the District Bank, some gentlemen, amongst whom 
Mr. Gammon, of Belmont Row, was very prominent, thinking 
that in all fairness Mr. Geach should have been elected, 
seeing that he was the originator of the scheme, and had done 
the greater part of the preliminary work, determined to form 
another bank. There was to be no mistake this time, for 
Mr. Geach's name was inserted in the prospectus as the future 
manager. He was at this time only 28 years of age. He had 
been resident but a very few years in the town, but had already 
the reputation of being one of the most able young men in the . 
place. His manners, too, were singularly agreeable. On the 
faith of his name, the public readily took up the necessary 
number of shares. So great was the energy employed, that in 
seven weeks from the opening of the District Bank, its 
competitor, the Birmingham and Midland Bank, had com- 
menced business. 

Having been so long in the office of the Bank of England, 
in Union Street, the young manager naturally thought it the 
best locality for the new bank ; and as there was a large shop 
vacant in that street, a few doors below Union Passage, on 
the right-hand side going down, it was taken, and in these 
temporary premises the bank commenced, on the 23rd of 
August, 1836, its prosperous and most useful career. 



62 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Mr. Eobert Webb was the first Chairman of the Board of 
Directors ; Mr. Thomas Bolton, merchant, of New Street, was 
°. ne of ^ e most actiye members. Mr. Samuel Beale, after a 
time, joined the board, and was very energetic. He soon 
formed a friendship for the manager which only terminated 
with life. Mr. Henry Edmunds, who so recently retired from 
the post of managing director, but who still holds a seat at 
the board, was sub-manager from the opening ; and Mr. Goode, 
who now fills the manager's seat, went there as a clerk at the 
same time. 

The tact and energy of the manager, and the shrewd 
business capacity of the directors, soon secured a very large 
business. In a very short time the building now held by 
the Conservative Clubj which the bank had erected a little 
higher up the street, was occupied, and here the business 
was conducted for more than twenty-five years. The building 
included a very commodious residence for the manager, and 
here Mr. Geach took up his abode with his family. 

During the preliminary disturbances in 1839, which 
culminated in the Bull Ring riots, Mr. Geach received private 
information one afternoon, which induced him to take extra 
precautions for the safety of the books, securities, and cash. 
While this was being done, the clerks had collected a number 
of men and some arms. They also obtained, and took to the 
roof, a great quantity of stones, bricks, and other missiles, 
which they stored behind the parapets. The men were so 
placed, that by mounting an inner stair they could ascend to 
the roof, from which spot, it was proposed, in case of attack, 
to hurl the missiles upon the mob below. News was soon 
brought that the mob was congregating in Dale End and that 
neighbourhood. At the request of some of the magistrates 
who were present, Mr. Geach started off for the barracks, 
galloping through the mob, who threw showers of stones, 
brick-ends, and other disagreeable missiles at him, and 
shouted, " Stop him," " Pull him off," " He's going for the 
soldiers," and so on. His horse was a spirited one, anq'. took 
him safely through. He reached the barracks and secured 
assistance. He then came back by another route to the bank, 
and the expected attack was averted. There is no doubt that 
his energetic conduct that day saved the town from violence 
and spoliation. 

It is not my intention in this paper to sketch the 



BIEMINGHAM BANKS. 63 

character of Mr. Greach. I have now only to deal with him 
in reference to the bank, which he so ably managed, and 
in which down to his death he felt the warmest interest. 
About 1839 or 1840 he began to engage in commercial 
transactions on his own account, and these growing upon 
him and requiring much of his personal attention, he, about 
1846 or 1847, resigned his position as manager, and was 
succeeded by his old friend and colleague, Mr. Henry 
Edmunds. Mr. Greach, however, though no longer engaged 
in the active management, was appointed managing director, 
and in this capacity was generally consulted on all the more 
important matters. 

Mr. Edmunds is a man of altogether different type to his 
predecessor. Mr. Greach had been bold in his management, 
to a degree which in less skilful hands might have been peri- 
lous to his employers. Mr. Edmunds's principal characteristic, 
as a manager, was excessive caution. But, although so 
utterly varying in character, both men were peculiarly fitted 
for their post at the time they were in power. Boldness and 
vigour gave the bank a large connection, and established an 
extensive business. Caution and carefulness were quite as 
essential in the times during which Mr. Edmunds guided 
the destinies of the bank. In that speculative period of 
twenty-five years, his prudence and cool judgment were 
valuable qualities, and they served good ends, for the 
" Midland," under Mr. Edmunds, was pre-eminently a " lucky " 
bank. He had no occasion for the more brilliant qualities 
of his predecessor ; the bank was offered more business 
than it cared for ; and his caution and hesitation saved his 
directors much trouble, and his shareholders considerable 
loss. 

As in process of years the business increased, the old 
premises were found to be too small, and the directors 
contemplated enlargement. Some energetic spirits on the 
board advocated the erection of a new building. It was 
debated for some time, but it finally resulted in the erec- 
tion of the present palatial banking house at the corner 
of Stephenson Place. It is no secret that Mr. Edmunds 
disapproved of the step, and, indeed, at the dinner given to 
celebrate the opening of the new premises, he expressed, in 
plain terms, his opinion that they had made a mistake, and 
that they had better have remained where they were. 



64 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

Be that as it may, the business was removed to New Street 
in 1869, at which time, I believe, Mr. Samuel Buckley was 
Chairman of the Board of Directors. One can imagine the 
satisfactory feelings of his mind as he reflected that within 
a very few yards of the magnificent bank, of which he 
was then the head, he, comparatively unknown, took years 
before a situation in the warehouse of a merchant, Mr. 
Thomas Bolton, which then stood on the site of the Midland 
Hotel. In this business Mr. Buckley rapidly rose in the esti- 
mation of his employer, becoming, first his partner, and 
subsequently his successor. The business, when the old 
premises were required for other purposes, was removed first 
to Newhall Hill, and finally to Great Charles Street, where it 
is still carried on as Samuel Buckley and Co. 

Shortly before the removal to ISTew Street, Mr. Edmunds 
began to wish for a less laborious position. Following the .pre- 
cedent in Mr. Geach's case, he was made managing director, 
and Mr. Goode took the well-earned position of manager. This 
arrangement existed until about twelve months ago, when 
Mr. Edmunds retired altogether from the active administration 
of the business. He retained, however, a seat at the board as 
one of the ordinary directors. On this occasion, the board, 
with the sanction of the shareholders, to mark their sense of 
his admirable judgment and unceasing industry, voted him a 
retiring pension of £1,000 a year. His portrait now hangs 
in the board-room at the bank, near that of his friend, 
Mr. Geach. May the walls of this room, in the future, be 
adorned by the "counterfeit presentment" of successive 
managers as good and true as these two, the pioneers, have 
proved themselves ! 

Mr. Goode's qualifications for the post he occupies are 
not only hereditary, but are supplemented by the experi- 
ence of more than forty years in this bank, under the able 
guidance of the two colleagues who have preceded him. 
His acute perceptions and great financial skill qualify him 
admirably for the post, whilst his undeviating courtesy has 
made him very popular, and has gained for him " troops of 
friends." 

Notwithstanding the enormous increase in the business of 
the town and neighbourhood, there was no other bank established 
in Birmingham for more than twenty-five years. One reason, 
probably, was that, by a clause in an Act of Parliament, it was 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 65 

made incumbent npon all banks established after it became law, 
to publish periodical statements of their affairs. This seemed to 
many shrewd men to be an obstacle to the success of any new 
bank, although it was felt that there was ample room for one. 
The passing of the Limited Liability Act opened the way. It 
was seen that by fixing the nominal capital very high, and 
calling up only a small portion of its amount, there would 
always be so large a margin of uncalled capital, that the 
periodical publication of assets and liabilities could alarm no 
one. Taking this view, and seeing the probability of a success- 
ful career for a new banking institution, a few far-seeing men — 
notably the late Messrs. John Graham and Henry Clive — soon 
attached to themselves a number of influential colleagues, and 
at the latter end of 1861 the prospectus of the Birmingham 
Joint Stock Bank was issued. Mr. Gr. F. Muntz was chairman, 
Mr. Thomas Short, vice-chairman, and Messrs. John Graham, 
H. Clive, R. Fletcher, J. S. Keep, W. Middlemore, 0. H. 
Wagner, and W. A. Adams were directors. The capital, to the 
required extent, was eagerly subscribed. Mr. Joseph Beattie, 
of London, was appointed manager, and the bank opened its 
doors, in Temple Bow West, on New Year's Day, 1862. 

The directors, .at their preliminary meetings, had come to 
some very wise resolutions, having for their tendency the 
creation of public confidence in the good management and 
complete stability of the new venture. One of these was that 
no one of the directors could at any time, or under any circum- 
stances, overdraw his account at the bank. Recollections of 
what had been done aforetime showed the public the wisdom 
of this step, and the shares became consequently in good 
demand, and soon reached a fair premium. The directors, 
with great judgment, had made a large reserve of unallotted 
shares, and now that they had become a popular investment, 
they offered them to large traders at par, on condition of 
their opening accounts at the new bank. Other inducements 
were held out to attract business, and in a very short time the 
bank was doing at least as large a business as some of its 
competitors. 

The appointment of Mr. Beattie was a most judicious one. 
He is, unquestionably, a very able man of business ; and his 
untiring energy and perseverance are very remarkable, even 
in these days of hard work. Under such management, and 
with so good a board of directors at his back, it is no wonder 



66 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

that the bank now occupies a foremost place amongst its 
fellows. 

The Worcester City and County Bank is the last, but it 
bids fairly to become by no means the least, amongst the banks 
of the town. The parent bank was established in Worcester 
in 1840. It was a prosperous and successful local bank of no 
great celebrity until the failure of Messrs. Farley and Co., 
of Kidderminster, in 1856. The directors then opened 
a branch establishment in that town, which was successful 
beyond expectation. Encouraged by this, they afterwards 
opened branches at Atherstone, Bridgnorth, Bromsgrove, Chel- 
tenham, Droitwich, Evesham, Ludlow, Leominster, Presteign, 
Malvern, and Tenbury, and in 1872 they resolved to establish 
a bank at Birmingham. Lloyds and Co. had just removed 
from Moilliet's old premises in Cherry Street, to their new 
bank, in Ann Street, and, rather unwisely, left the old place 
in Cherry Street to be let to the first comer. The Worcester 
company became the tenants, and opened their bank in 1872, 
under the management of Mr. J. H. Slaney. This gentleman 
retired in about twelve months, and was succeeded by 
Mr. James Leigh, the present manager of the Birmingham 
Banking Company. When he accepted his present post, 
Mr. F. W. Nash took the helm. The bank seems, in the short 
time it has been established, to have been very successful, for 
the premises, after having been twice enlarged, are, it is said, 
now too small ; and it is understood that a plot of land in Ann 
Street, near the corner of Newhall Street, has been secured, 
and that Mr. F. B. Osborne is engaged upon plans for the 
erection, on this site, of a new banking house, which will be 
no mean rival to those already in existence, adding another 
fine architectural structure to the splendid line of edifices 
which will soon be complete from the Town Hall to Snow Hill, 

There only remains one more bank to mention, and I can- 
not remember its name. It was opened some ten or twelve 
years ago in the tall building at the west corner of Warwick 
House Passage, now occupied by Mr. Hollingsworth. It was 
under the management of Mr. Edwin Wignall, who had been 
sub-manager at the District. It had but a short life. The 
careful manner in which the stone pavement of the vestibule 
and the steps leading from the street were cleaned and 
whitened every morning, and the few footmarks made by 
customers going in and coming out, gained for it the name of 



BIRMINGHAM BANKS. 67 

the " Clean Bank," by which, title it will be remembered by 
many. The business that had been collected was transferred 
to the Midland, and the ISTew Street bank was closed. 

My sketch of the Birmingham Banks is now complete. It 
is very satisfactory to reflect that in the long space of sixty- 
three years over which it ranges, there have been only two 
cases in which the creditors of Birmingham banks have suffered 
loss ; and really it is greatly to the credit of the good old town 
that these losses have been, comparatively, so insignificant. In 
the bankruptcy of Gibbins and Co., in 1825, the creditors 
received 19s. 8d. in the pound. In the more recent case — 
that of Attwood and Co. — they received a dividend of lis. 3d. 
Both these cases compare favourably with others at a distance, 
where dividends of one or two shillings have not been infre- 
quent. The banking business of the town is now in safe and 
prudent hands, and there is strong reason for hoping that the 
several institutions may go on, with increasing usefulness and 
prosperity, to a time long after the present generation of 
traders has ceased to draw cheques, or existing shareholders 
to calculate upon coming dividends. 

As I stood, not long ago, within the ' splendid hall in 
which the Birmingham and Midland Bank carries on its 
business, my mind reverted to a visit I once paid, to the 
premises, in the City of Gloucester, of the first county bank 
established in England. Perhaps in all the differences between 
bygone and modern times, there could not be found a greater 
contrast. The old Gloucester Bank was established in the 
year 1716, by the grandfather of the celebrated "Jemmy 
Wood," who died in 1836, leaving personal property sworn 
under £900,000. Soon after his death, I saw the house 
and "Bank," where he had carried on his business of a 
"banker and merchant." The house was an old one, the 
gables fronting the street. The upper windows were long and 
low, and were glazed with the old lead-framed diamond-shaped 
panes of dark green glass. The ground-floor was lighted by 
two ancient shop windows, having heavy wooden sashes glazed 
with panes about nine inches high by six wide. To the sill of 
each window, hung upon hinges, were long deal shutters, which 
were lifted up at night, and fastened with "cotters." There 
were two or three well-worn steps to the entrance. The door 
was divided half-way up : the upper portion stood open during 
business hours, and the lower was fastened by a common 



.68 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

thumb latch. To the ledge of the door inside, a bell was 
attached by a strip of iron hooping, which vibrated when the 
door was opened, and set the bell ringing to attract attention. 
The interior fittings were of the most simple fashion ; common 
deal counters with thin oaken tops ; shabby drawers and shelves 
all round ; one or two antiquated brass sconces for candles ; a 
railed-off desk, near the window ; and that was all. In this 
place, almost alone and unassisted, the old man made his 
money. I copy the following from " Maunder's Biographical 
Dictionary : " "In conjunction with the bank, he kept a shop 
to the day of his death, and dealt in almost every article that 
could be asked for. Nothing was too trifling for ' Jemmy 
Wood' by which a penny could be turned. He spent the 
whole week in his banking- shop or shop -bank, and the whole 
of the business of the Old Gloucester Bank was carried on at 
one end of his chandlery store." 

Now-a-days we go to a palace to cash a cheque. We pass 
through a vestibule between polished granite monoliths, or 
adorned with choice marble sculpture in alto-relievo. We 
enter vast halls fit for the audience chambers of a monarch, 
and embellished with everything that the skill of the architect 
can devise. We stand at counters of the choicest polished 
mahogany, behind which we see scores of busy clerks, the 
whole thing having an appearance of absolute splendour. 
From Jemmy Wood's shop to the noble hall of the Midland, or 
the Joint Stock, is indeed a long step in advance. 

It has often occurred to me that it would be a wise plan for 
bankers to divide their counters into distinct compartments, so 
that one customer could see nothing of his next neighbour, 
and hear nothing of his business. The transactions at a bank 
are often of as delicate a nature as the matters discussed in a 
solicitor's office ; yet the one is secret and safe, and the other 
is open to the gaze and the ear of any one who happens to be 
at the bank at the same time. 

In closing this subject, I wish to express my thanks to Mr. 
S. A. Groddard for his assistance. His great age, his acute 
powers of perception, and his marvellously retentive and* 
accurate memory, combine to make him, probably, the only 
living competent witness of some of the circumstances I have 
been able to detail; while the ready manner in which he 
responded to my request for information merits my warmest 
and most grateful acknowledgments. 



JOHN WALSH WALSH AND THE 
ASTON FETES. 



N' 



"0 one possessing ordinary habits of observation can have 
lived in Birmingham for anything like forty years with- 
out being conscious of the extraordinary difference between 
the personal and social habits of the generation which is 
passing away, and of that which has arisen to succeed it. 
Now-a-days, as soon as business is over, Birmingham people — 
professional men, manufacturers, shopkeepers, and, indeed, 
all the well-to-do classes — hurry off by rail, by tramway, or 
by omnibus, to snug country homesteads, where their evenings 
are spent by their own firesides in quiet domestic intercourse. 
A generation ago, things in Birmingham were very different. 
Then, shopkeepers lived " on the premises," and manufacturers, 
as a rule, had their dwelling houses in close proximity to their 
factories. Business, compared with its present condition, was 
in a very primitive state. Manufacturers worked at their 
business with their men, beginning with them in the morning 
and leaving off at the same hour at night. The warehouse 
closed, and the work of the day being over, the "master" 
would doff his apron, roll down his turned-up shirt sleeves, 
put on his second-best coat, and sally forth to his usual 
smoking-room. Here, in company with a few old cronies, he 
solaced himself with a modest jug of ale, and, lighting his 
clay pipe, proceeded with great solemnity to enjoy himself. 
But, one by one, the habitues of the old smoking rooms have 
gone to "live in the country," and the drowsy, dreary rooms, 
becoming deserted, have, for the most part, been applied to 
other purposes ; whilst in many of those that are left, the 
smoke-stained portrait of some bygone landlord looks down 
upon the serried ranks of empty chairs, as if bewailing the 
utter degeneracy of modern mankind. 



70 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

The room at the " Woodman," in Easy Row, is an exception, 
for it still maintains its ground. It is a large, well-lighted, 
and well- ventilated apartment. Its walls are adorned with a 
number of good pictures, among which are well-executed life- 
size portraits of two eminent men — James Watt, the engineer, 
and Sir Joshua Reynolds, the father of the English school of 
painting. In this room, years ago, when the sunny, courteous, 
and humorous "Jem Onions" was the host, a number of 
notable men used to assemble. Here you might meet men 
who at that time, or since, have been known as mayors, alder- 
men, and councillors. Here, "Blue-brick Walker" first 
propounded his scheme for superseding the " petrified kidney " 
pavement. Here "Wedding-ring Edwards," in his quaint, 
sententious manner, growled out brief epigrammatic sentences, 
full of shrewdness and wisdom, most strangely seasoned with 
semi-contemptuous sarcasm. Here Isherwood {Sutclifr, with 
his well-dressed, dapper figure, and his handsome Roman face, 
was wont to air his oratory ; and here occasionally he, placing 
his right foot upon a spittoon, would deliver himself of set 
orations ; most carefully prepared ; most elegantly phrased ; 
copiously garnished with Byronic quotations ; and delivered 
with considerable grace and fervour. These orations, however, 
having no basis of thought or force of argument, and, indeed, 
having nothing but their sensuous beauty of expression to 
recommend them, fell flat upon the ears of an unsympathetic 
audience, composed mainly of men whose brains were larger 
and of tougher fibre. Here, too, came occasionally the 
mighty and the omniscient Joe Allday, and when he did, the 
discussion sometimes became a little more than animated, the 
self-assertive Joe making the room ring again, as he denounced 
the practices of those who ruled the destinies of the town. 
Here one night, lifting his right hand on high, as if to appeal 
to Heaven, he assured his audience that they "need not be 
afraid." He would "never betray the people of Birmingham ! " 
Here, too, last, but certainly not least in any way, might 
almost nightly be seen the towering figure of John Walsh 
Walsh : his commanding stature ; his massive head, with its 
surrounding abundant fringe of wavy hair, looking like a 
mane ; his mobile face, his bright — almost fierce — eye ; his curt, 
incisive, and. confident style of speech, showing him to be, 
beyond all question, the most masterful and prominent member 
of the company. 



JOHX WALSH WALSH. 71 

He was born at Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire. His 
peculiar double patronymic was the result of a curious mistake 
made by one of the sponsors at his baptism. Being asked in 
the usual way to "name this child," the poor man, in his 
nervousness, gave, not only the intended name of John, but 
inadvertently, the surname also; and so the infant became 
John Walsh Walsh, a name which its owner used to say was 
worth hundreds a year to him in business. "Anybody could 
be ' John Walsh,' but ' John Walsh Walsh ' was unique, and 
once heard would never be forgotten." 

Coming to Birmingham in pre-railway times, he found his 
first employment in the office of Pickford and Co., the great 
carrying firm. Here his marvellous energy, his quickness of 
apprehension, his mastery of detail, his accuracy of calculation, 
and his rapidity as a correspondent, soon raised him to a good 
position. He had, however, higher aims, and having the 
sagacity to foresee that the use of aerated beverages, which had 
just been introduced, must soon become general, he left the 
office and commenced the manufacture of soda water, a 
business which he successfully carried on as long as he lived, 
and which is still continued in his name by his successors. 
This business fairly afloat, his energies sought further outlet, 
and he soon, in conjunction with his partner, Mr. Nelson, 
commenced at Leamington the manufacture, by a patent 
process, of artificial isinglass and gelatine. This business, too, 
was successful and is still in operation, Nelson's gelatine being 
known all over the world. Besides these, he had a mustard 
mill, was an extensive dealer in cigars, and for many years 
was associated with the late Mr. Jefferies in the manufacture 
of marine glue. About 1851 he took over an unsuccessful 
co-operative glass manufactory in Hill Street, which his 
vigorous management soon converted into a great success. 
The business growing beyond the capabilities of the premises, 
he removed it to the extensive works at Lodge Road, where he 
continued to conduct it until his death, and where it is still 
carried on by his executors for the benefit of his family. 

He was for some years a member of the Birmingham Town 
Council, and was one of its hardest workers. Much might be 
said of the energetic manner in which he opposed all weak- 
ness in action, and of the manly vigour of his advocacy of all 
schemes for the benefit of the town of his adoption. It will 
be especially remembered how hard he worked to induce the 



72 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Council to buy Aston Park for the town, when its price was 
low, and how he used to chafe at the thought that double the 
present area of the park might have been purchased, for less 
money than was ultimately paid for the portion now held. 
In the Council, as everywhere else, the strange influence he 
could bring to bear upon other men, and the power he possessed 
of infusing a portion of his own superabundant energy into 
the minds of others, was continually manifested ; and he will 
long be remembered in the Council Chamber as one of the 
most original thinkers, and one of the shrewdest observers, 
that ever sat upon its benches. 

But his name will, probably, be longer held in remembrance 
in connection with the colossal fetes at Aston Park, in 1856, 
of which he was the originator, and to the success of which he 
devoted himself with untiring energy and unwearied industry. 
The idea of the fetes originated at the " Woodman " on an 
evening in the spring of 1856. The room, on this occasion, 
was nearly full ; Walsh occupied the principal seat. Not far 
from him was the versatile, erudite, somewhat dogmatic, but 
always courteous and polite, John Cornforth. There too, was 
Ambrose Biggs, who since, as Mayor, so fully justified the 
choice the Corporation made when they elected him to be 
their head. Nearly opposite was seen the gentlemanlike figure 
of poor Joseph Collins, whose untimely death, a few years later, 
created an intense feeling of sorrow in the minds of all who 
knew him. The worthy host, Jem Onions, occupied his usual 
seat. At a short distance was seen the upright figure and full 
round face of genial, but somewhat fussy, George Tye, his 
countenance beaming with good nature, and his eye bright 
with the light of poetic and artistic intelligence ; and there 
also were many others, whose names I cannot at this moment 
recall. 

The conversation that night was more than usually ani- 
mated, and was carried on with much propriety and intelligence. 
Walsh led a discussion on the folly of the Corporation in 
refusing to buy a portion of Aston Park, including the Hall, 
which had been offered to them, as he said, " dirt cheap. " 
Biggs, a little way off, took up a subject with which he was 
more intimately connected — the Queen's Hospital, whose 
financial affairs, just then, were in a lamentable state of 
collapse. One set of talkers in the room were intent upon the 
one topic ; at the other end, the other subject was uppermost. 



JOHN WALSH "WALSH. 73 

Thus the two matters became somewhat " mixed up " in the ear 
of a listener, and thus they suddenly jostled together in the mind 
of Walsh. All in a moment the thought arose — " Why not 
borrow the park and give a pic-nic for the hospital ? " With 
him, such a matter required little consideration ; with him, to 
conceive was to act. In a few minutes he was on his legs, and 
at some length, with considerable eloquence and characteristic 
energy, he, amid the rapt attention of the company, propounded 
the scheme which had suggested itself. He was followed by 
other speakers ; the scheme was rapturously received by the 
audience ; it was unanimously resolved that if the use of the 
park could be obtained, the fete should be held ; a deputation 
was appointed to wait upon the proprietors of the park ; and 
a provisional committee, with Mr. Walsh as chairman, was 
elected to carry out the preliminaries. 

No time was lost. In a few days the desired permission to 
hold a fete in the park was obtained. Other gentlemen joined 
in the movement, and a large and influential permanent 
committee was formed. Walsh took up the matter with his 
usual energy and with most sanguine views. This was to be 
no mere pic-nic now ! It was to be such a fete as Birmingham 
had never witnessed, and would not readily forget. The 
attractions were to be such as would draw people from all 
quarters. The preparations were to be on the most gigantic 
scale, and the result was estimated by Walsh at a clear gain of 
£250 or £300 to the hospital. Some of the more cautious 
thought the scheme a little wild, and on far too extensive a 
scale for success ; but the indomitable chairman, who had fully 
considered the pros and cons, threw into the movement the 
whole force of his almost superhuman energy, and carried 
conviction to the minds of the most timid of his colleagues. 
The scheme was enthusiastically resolved upon, although, as 
Walsh said, after the fetes were over, " Some of us were 
actually frightened at what we had undertaken." 

The fete was to be held on the 28th of July. It fell on a 
Monday. By common consent business was to be suspended. 
As the day approached, it became obvious, from the enormous 
demand for the tickets, that the attendance would far exceed 
the expectations of the most sanguine. Another 25,000 tickets 
were ordered from the printer, by telegraph. The refreshment 
contractors were advised of the vastly increased number of 
hungry customers they might expect. Bakers were set to work 



74 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

to provide hundreds of additional loaves. Orders were given 
for an extra ton or two of sandwiches. Scores more barrels 
of ale and porter came slowly into the park, where, within 
fenced enclosures, they were piled, two or three high, in double 
lines. Crates upon crates of tumblers, earthenware mugs, 
and plates arrived. Soda water, lemonade, and ginger beer 
were provided in countless grosses, and in fact everything for 
the comfort and convenience of visitors that the most careful 
forethought could suggest, was provided in the most lavish 
profusion. 

At length the day arrived. The weather was delightfully 
fine. The village of Aston was gaily decorated; the Royal 
Standard floated from the steeple, and the bells chimed out in 
joyous melody. The quaint Elizabethan gateway to the park 
was gay with unaccustomed bunting. The sober old Hall had 
a sudden eruption of colour, such as it had probably never 
known before. Flags of all colours, and with strange devices, 
met the eye at every turn. Waggon after waggon, laden with 
comestibles, filed slowly into the park. The rushing to and 
fro of waiters and other attendants showed that they expected 
a busy day of it. As noon approached, train after train 
deposited at the Aston station hundreds and thousands of gaily- 
attired Black Country people. Special trains ran from New 
Street as fast as they could be got in order ; all the approaches 
to the park were crammed with serried lines — three or four 
abreast — of omnibuses, waggons, cabs, carts, and every other 
imaginable vehicle ; whilst thousands upon thousands of dusty 
pedestrians jostled each other in the crowded roads. Fast as 
the ticket and money collectors could pass them through the 
gates, continuous streams poured on for hours, until at length the 
number of persons within the grounds exceeded the enormous 
total of fifty thousands ! 

The old Hall was thrown open, and hundreds of people 
strolled through its quaint rooms and noble galleries. The 
formal gardens were noisy with unaccustomed merriment. 
From the terrace one looked upon preparations for amusements, 
and old English games of all descriptions. Platforms for 
dancing, and pavilions for musicians, stood here and there. 
Beyond, in the valley, a long range of poles and skeleton forms 
showed where the fireworks were in preparation. Down in a 
corner stood a large stack of firewood through which, w^i 
lighted, the "Fire-King" was to pass uninjured. Swi l0s £ 



JOHN WALSH WALSH. 75 

merry-go-rounds, and Punch and Judy shows were rare attrac- 
tions for the young ; and soon the whole of that enormous 
assemblage of people, in the sunlight of a glorious July day, 
seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. 

Suddenly, in one corner, there arose a deep-toned murmur, 
like the sound of the roaring of the waves upon a broken shore. 
It deepened in tone and increased in volume, until the whole 
area of the park was filled with this strange sound. It was 
the noise of laughter proceeding simultaneously from fifty 
thousand throats ! From a mysterious-looking shed in the 
valley opposite the terrace, Mr. John Inshaw and some of his 
friends had just launched a balloon, shaped like an enormous 
pig ! Piggy rose majestically over that vast sea of upturned 
faces, which he seemed to regard with much attention. But 
at length, apparently disgusted at being so much laughed at, he 
started off in the direction of Coleshill, and, to the intense 
amusement of everybody, persisted in travelling tail foremost. 

All classes were represented at the fete. Here you might 
see a group of well-dressed folks from Edgbaston, next some 
pale-faced miners from the Black Country, and then the nut- 
brown faces of some agricultural people. All seemed intent 
upon fun and pleasure, and so, throughout that long summer 
day, the crowd increased, and every one seemed to be in a 
state of absolute enjoyment. 

As evening wore on, other sources of interest arose. The 
famous Sycamore Avenue — now, alas, going fast to decay — was 
lighted up by innumerable coloured lamps. I am old enough 
to remember the illuminations of the famous Vauxhall Gardens 
in London, but I never saw there so fairylike a scene as that 
glorious old avenue at Aston presented that evening. 

Then came the fireworks ! No such display had ever before 
been seen in the Midland Counties. The flights of rockets, the 
marvellously-ingenious set pieces, and the wonderful blue 
lights, gave intense delight; and the grand chorus of "Oh! 
Oh ! Oh ! " when any specially brilliant effect was produced, 
was something not to be easily forgotten ; but the climax was 
reached when, as a finale, the words 

SAVE ASTON HALL 

came out in glowing fire. Then the people shouted and ap- 
plauded as if they were frantic. And so, amid the gratulations 
of everybody, the first of the Aston Fetes came to an end. 



76 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

No sooner was the fete over, than a clamour arose as to the 
disposal of the profit. It was argued that as the money raised 
had so far exceeded expectation, it ought, in fairness, to be 
-divided between the two hospitals. Correspondence in the 
newspapers became warm, and almost angry. Walsh was 
pestered with all sorts of suggestions, and a deputation waited 
upon him, urging the " claims " of the General Hospital. 
Walsh received them with politeness, but with reticence, and 
they left dissatisfied. It was a difficulty, but Walsh was equal 
to it. Summoning his committee, he urged that the fete 
having been given for a specific purpose, that purpose must be 
fulfilled, and the whole sum must go to the Queen's. " But," 
said he, " I'll tell you what we can do : we can give a good 
round sum on account to the Queen's, and we can get up 
another fete for the General." A bomb-shell could hardly 
have created greater astonishment, and the project, at first, 
was met with disfavour. It was thought that it would not 
" do " a second time ; that the novelty of the affair was over ; 
that people would not go twice ; and that the result would be 
a failure. Walsh urged that what had been done had only 
" whetted the appetite" of the public ; that thousands regretted 
not having been present ; and that the result would be certain 
success. His energetic advocacy carried the point, and before 
the committee separated, a second fete, to be held on September 
15th, was resolved upon. 

Meanwhile, it was resolved to hand over a cheque for 
£1,500, on account, to the Queen's Hospital, which was accord- 
ingly done ; and on the 22nd of August, at a meeting of the 
Council of the Hospital, at which Alderman Ratcliff presided, 
it was resolved (inter alia) that Walsh should be elected a Life 
Governor ; that a marble tablet recording the event should be 
erected in the vestibule of the hospital ; and that a dinner 
should be given to the chairman, officers, and committee of the 
fete, such dinner to take place at the "Woodman," where the 
fete originated. The dinner subsequently took place, under 
the presidency of the late Mr. Thomas ITpfill. It was stated 
incidentally that the total receipts amounted to £2,222 12s. bd. ; 
that donations had been received by the Fete Committee 
amounting to £93 13s. ; and that they had secured annual 
subscriptions amounting to £26 14s. 6d. 

Pending these matters, Walsh and his friends had not been 
idle. Preparations for the second fete were commenced, and 



JOHN WALSH WALSH. 77 

energetically urged forward. Guided by experience, the work 
was somewhat less laborious, but the dread of failure made the 
committee doubly anxious. Just before, there had been great 
rejoicing in London to celebrate the peace with Russia, and 
there had been a magnificent display of fireworks in Hyde 
Park. It was known that a considerable quantity, unused on 
that occasion, still lay in store at Woolwich Arsenal. Walsh 
opened a correspondence with the authorities ; went to London ; 
and finally induced the Government, not only to make a free 
grant of the fireworks, but to send down a staff of skilled 
pyrotechnists to superintend the display at the fete. Additional 
attractions in great abundance were provided. The Festival 
Choral Society promised its assistance, and everything 
augured well, if only the weather should be fine. 

Monday, September 15th, came at last. Fortunately, it was 
a very beautiful autumnal day. Nearly all the shops in the 
town were closed, and everybody talked of the fete. As the 
day wore on, the excitement became intense. The town 
literally emptied itself into Aston Park. A newspaper of the 
time, says, " from the corner of Dale End to the park, the road 
was one continued procession of cabs, carts, and omnibuses, 
four abreast." Trains disgorged their thousands, and from far 
and near the people came pouring in, until, to the utter 
amazement of everybody, the park was considerably fuller than 
on the previous occasion, and the total number of visitors was 
estimated to be at least 90,000. 

Walsh was in his glory. With triumphant glee he mounted 
a chair on the terrace, and began a short speech, with the 
words, " We're a great people, gentlemen ; we're a great 
people." He then went on to say that he was " going to turn 
auctioneer," and a huge clothes basket full of grapes — the 
entire contents of one of his own forcing houses — being 
brought to him, he proceeded in the most facetious manner to 
offer them, bunch by bunch, for 'sale, and he realised in this 
way a very large addition to the funds of the fete. 

But space fails, and the account of this, the second fete, 
must only record that in every respect it was a success ; that, 
over and above the prodigious number of tickets that had been 
sold, the enormous sum of £1,200 was taken at the gates 
for admission ; and that, financially as well as numerically, ifc 
far exceeded its predecessor. 



78 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

It only remains to add, that four days afterwards, Messrs. 
Walsh, Cornforth, Biggs, and Collins attended the Board 
Meeting of the General Hospital, and handed over a cheque for 
£1,700 on account ; that at the next committee meeting it was 
resolved that the aggregate results of both fetes should be 
ascertained, and that the amount of the entire profits of both 
should be divided in equal moieties between the two hospitals. 

So ended the great Aston Fetes, the memory of which, and 
their financial results, will be perpetuated by the marble slab 
at the Queen's Hospital, which bears the following inscrip- 
tion — 

This Tablet records 

that a Committee of Manufacturers and Tradesmen 

of Birmingham 

projected and carried out, on their own responsibility, 

the two Fetes Champetre, which took place at Aston Hall and Park, 

on the 28th day of July and the 15th day of September, 1856, 

in aid, and towards the support and improvement, 

of the Queen's and General Hospitals of the town, 

by which they realised (after the payment of £1,663 3s. 2d. for expenses) 

the sum of £5,054 12s. id., 

which was equally divided between the two institutions. 

John Walsh Walsh, Chairman j 
John Cornforth, Vice-Chah-man ( of the Fetes 
Ambrose Biggs, Secretary [ Committee, 

Josh. Thomas Collins, Treasurer J 

The late Prince Consort, who was President of the Queen's 
Hospital, caused copies of the tablet to be prepared for 
presentation to each of the four gentlemen named, and to 
Mr. Onions, at whose house the fetes originated. Each copy 
bears the autograph signature of the Prince. I saw one the 
other day, occupying a place of honour in the house of its 
possessor, who showed it to me with manly pride, as a memento 
of his share in the work of the great Aston Petes. 



79 



G. F. MUNTZ, M.P. 



rpHE second Parliament of Qneen Victoria was dissolved 
-*- July 23rd, 1847. Mr. Muntz had represented Birming- 
ham in both, having been elected on the retirement of Mr. 
Attwood, in January, 1840, and re-elected at the general 
election in July, 1841. It was customary in Birmingham, 
before the passing of the last Reform Bill, to hold, on the eve 
of elections, a meeting of non-electors, in order that the 
working men, then outside the franchise, should have a 
"voice," although they had no vote, in the choice of the 
Members for Birmingham. From 1844 Mr. Spooner had 
represented the town, but on this occasion the Liberal electors 
were determined, if possible, to eject him. Mr. William 
Scholefield opposed his re-election. There was another 
candidate, Mr. Sergeant Allen, but as he only polled 89 votes 
he may, for the present purpose, be left out of the question. 
The contest lay between Mr. Spooner and Mr. Scholefield. 
The leaders of the Liberal party naturally supposed that the 
candidature of Mr. Scholefield would have the support of Mr. 
Muntz, and that the two Liberal candidates would be able to 
work together, having a joint committee. To the astonish- 
ment of the whole town, Mr. Muntz resolutely declined to have 
anything to do with Mr. Scholefield or his friends. Upon this 
becoming known, there was great dismay in the Liberal camp, 
and Mr. Muntz became very unpopular. All kinds of pro- 
posals were made to induce him to change his mind, but he 
remained obstinate, and, in addition, stubbornly refused to 
canvass for himself, or to allow his friends to canvass in his 
name. 

Matters stood thus when the meeting of non-electors was 
held in the Town Hall. It was a very hot afternoon, and the 
hall was crammed. The leaders of the Liberal party took, as 
u "ual, the right of the chairman, and filled the principal seats 



80 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

in front. Mr. Mnntz was " conspicuous by his absence." The 
proceedings had gone on for some time, and on the name of 
Mr. William Scholefield being proposed as a candidate, the 
whole audience rose enthusiastically, and the Town Hall 
rung with cheers, such as the Liberals of Birmingham 
know so well how to bestow on a Liberal favourite or a 
Liberal sentiment. In the midst of this demonstration, when 
the meeting was in a state of fervid excitement, George 
F. Muntz quietly came up the orchestra stairs, and took un- 
observed a seat upon a back bench, near the organ. I was 
within two yards of him. He wore a brown holland blouse, 
and had with him a paper bag, and as he placed his hat on 
the seat beside him, he emptied the contents of the bag into it. 
As he did so I saw that he had provided himself with half-a- 
dozen oranges. 

In the course of the speeches that were made, much regret 
was expressed at the determination of Mr. Muntz to stand 
aloof from the party in this election, and it was hinted that if 
the Conservatives should retain the seat, Mr. Muntz personally 
would be to blame. Muntz heard it all pretty quietly, and 
at length, greatly to the astonishment of most who were 
there, who were not even aware of his being present, his 
stalwart figure rose, like an apparition, at the back of the 
gallery. Standing on a seat so as to make himself seen, he 
shouted out, "Mr. Chairman ! " The applause which greeted 
him was met with sober silence by Mr. Scholefield's friends. 
He went on — I remember his very words — "I was going 
into the Reform Club the other day, and on the steps I met 
Joe Parkes : you all know Joe Parkes. Well, he said to me r 
* I say, Muntz, you must coalesce with Scholefield.' I said, ' I 
shan't do anything of the sort ; it is no part of my duty to 
dictate to my constituents who shall be my colleague, and I 
shan't do it.' ' Well,' he said, ' if you don't, I shall recommend 
the electors to plump against you.' Well, I gave him a very 
short and a very plain answer : I told him they might plump 
and be damned ! " The uproar, the laughter, the shouts that 
ensued cannot be adequately described. In the midst of the 
din, Muntz coolly stooped, took a large orange from his hat, bit 
a piece out of it, which he threw away, and then facing 
that mighty and excited crowd, proceeded to suck away in as 
unconcerned a manner as if no one were present but himself. 
When the noise had somewhat subsided, he commenced ;an 



G. F. MUXTZ, M.P. 81 

elaborate defence of his conduct, and said he had been taunted 
vrith being too proud to ask for the votes of the electors. 
"That's not the reason," he said; "I knew I had done my 
duty as your representative, and that I deserved your votes ; 
and I knew that I should get them without asking ; but if it is 
any satisfaction to anybody, I take this opportunity to ask you 
now, collectively, to vote for me. As for your second vote, 
that has nothing to do with me. Choose whom you may, I 
shall work cheerfully with him as a colleague, and I have no 
fear of the result." 

This little speech was altogether characteristic of the man. 
It showed his stubborn wilfulness, his intense egotism, his 
coarseness of manner, and his affectation of eccentricity. But 
it exhibited also the fact that he thoroughly understood that 
he was liked by the bulk of Birmingham people, and that 
he knew the majority of unthinking men would take his 
bluntness for manliness, and his defiance of the feelings and 
opinions of his political associates, for sturdy and commendable 
independence. • He alienated many friends by his conduct on 
this occasion, but he won his election, coming in at the head of 
the poll. By dint of strenuous exertions — made necessary by 
his obstinacy — Mr. Scholefield came in second. The poll stoocL 
at the close— Muntz, 2,830; Scholefield, 2,824; Spooner, 
2,302 ; Allen, 89. From this time till his death, ten years 
later, he and Mr. Scholefield held their seats without further 
opposition. 

In the House of Commons he succeeded, mainly by force 
of lungs, in gaining attention ; but he was looked upon as a 
political oddity, whose ntterings were amusing, if nothing 
more. The only good I remember him to have done as a 
Member of Parliament was inducing the Government of the 
day to adopt the perforating machine in the manufacture of 
postage stamps. 

His personal appearance was remarkable and handsome. 
He was tall and exceedingly muscular, and must have possessed 
enormous physical power. At a time when shaving was 
universal, he wore his beard. It is generally believed that he 
never shaved. This is a mistake. He shaved until he was 
nearly 40 years old. His youngest brother, Mr. P. H. Muntz, 
the present M.P., as a young man had been sent for some years 
to North Germany, and when he came home in 1833, he had 
a fine beard. Mr. G-. F. Muntz thereupon resolved to allow 



82 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

his to grow, and when he went to Parliament this peculiarity 
attracted much notice. H. B., the celebrated caricaturist, was 
not slow to make it the subject of one of his inimitable sketches. 
In the collected edition there are 917 of these famous pictures, 
all admirably drawn, and excellent likenesses. Mr. Muntz is 
depicted in No. 643, under the title of " A Brummagem M.P." 
The historical stick, the baggy trousers, and the flowing and 
Homeric beard, are graphically represented. The reason given 
for his carrying the stick was quite amusing. It was stated 
that the then Marquis of Waterf ord had made a wager that he 
would shave Muntz, and that Muntz carried the stick to 
prevent that larkish young nobleman from carrying the 
intention into practice. 

The family from which Mr. Muntz descended wa.s originally 
Polish, but for a few generations had been domiciled in France, 
where they occupied a handsome chateau, and belonged to the 
aristocracy of the country. Here the father of Mr. Muntz 
was born. At the time of the Revolutionary deluge that 
swept over France, the Muntz family, in common with so 
many hundreds of their countrymen, emigrated ; and after 
a time, a. younger son, Mr. Muntz's father, who seems to 
have been a man of great enterprise and force of character, 
became a merchant at Amsterdam. This step was very dis- 
pleasing to his aristocratic relatives, but he followed his own 
course independently. In a few months he left Amsterdam 
for England, and established himself in Birmingham. At the 
age of 41 he married an English lady, Miss Purden, 
she being 17 years of age, and they resided in the house 
in Newhall Street now occupied by Messrs. Benson and 
Co., merchants, as offices, where, in the month of November, 
1794, Mr. George Frederic Muntz was born. It is believed 
that his baptismal names were given him in honour of Handel, 
the composer. At the time of his birth the house stood amid 
fields and gardens, and the old mansion known as " New Hall," 
was in close proximity, standing on the ground now occupied 
by the roadway of Newhall Street, just where the hill begins 
to descend towards Charlotte Street. 

The mother of Mr. Muntz was a lady of great acquire- 
ments and considerable mental power. She undertook the 
early education of her son, and was singularly qualified for 
the work. At the age of 12 he was sent to a school at 
Small Heath, kept by a Dr. Currie, where he remained for one 



G. F. MUNTZ, M.P. 83 

year, and from that time he never received any professional 
instruction. He had, however, a hunger for knowledge that 
was insatiable, and, with the assistance of his excellent mother, 
he pursued his studies privately. He became very well up in 
ancient and modern history. At a very early age he was 
associated with his father in business, and soon became a very 
apt assistant. His father's somewhat premature death in 1811 
brought him, at the early age of 18, face to face with the 
stern realities of life, for he became, so to speak, the head of 
the family, and the mainstay of the two businesses with 
which his father had been connected — the rolling mills in 
Water Street and the mercantile establishment in Great 
Charles Street. There he continued a hard-working, plodding 
life for many years; but on the fortunate discovery of the 
fact that a peculiar alloy of sixteen parts of copper with ten 
and two-thirds of spelter made a metal as efficacious for the 
sheathing of ships' bottoms as copper itself, at about two-thirds 
the cost, he left the management of the old concerns pretty 
much to his brother, the present Member, and devoted his 
own energies to the development of the business of making 
"Muntz's Metal." This business secured him a colossal 
fortune, and his name as the fortunate discoverer is still 
familiar in every commercial market in the world. 

Mr. Muntz married early in life the daughter of a clergy- 
man, by whom he had a large family. He resided first at a 
pretty rustic place overgrown with ivy, near Soho Pool, called 
Hockley Abbey. From thence he removed to Ley Hall, near 
Perry Barr ; and finally he went to TJmberslade Hall, near 
Knowle, where he resided for the remainder of his life. 

After the great commercial panic of 1825, the question of 
the proper adjustment of the English currency became a 
prominent topic of discussion, and various sections of society 
held contradictory theories. A distinct school of thought upon 
this subject arose in Birmingham, and comprised amongst its 
members some very able men of all shades of general political 
opinion. It became famous, and its theories being urged with 
great skill and ability, forced themselves upon public attention. 
Mr. Muntz, as a very young man, embraced their opinions, 
and advocated them by tongue and pen. In 1829 he wrote a 
series of letters to the Duke of Wellington upon this subject, 
which were marked by great ability. It was not, however, 
until the agitation for the Reform Bill commenced that 



84 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Mr. Muntz became much known as a politician. He took up 
this cause with great ardour, and, being gifted with consider- 
able fluency of speech, a powerful voice, a confident manner, 
and a handsome presence, he soon became immensely popular. 
Thomas Attwood, Joshua Scholefield, and George Frederic 
Muntz were the founders of the Political Union. The two 
former, as president and vice-president respectively, were of 
course in the foremost rank, but their young and ardent lieu- 
tenant, Muntz, was as powerful and popular as they. His 
strong and manly voice, and bold outspoken words, had a 
strange and powerful influence with his audiences. He was a 
popular favourite, and when the Political Union held their 
first monster meeting at Beardsworth's Repository, on January 
25th, 1830, Muntz was the chairman. As has been written of 
him, " His burly form, his rough-and-ready oratory, his 
thorough contempt for all conventionalities, the heartiness of 
his objurgations, and his earnestness, made him a favourite of 
the people, and an acceptable speaker at all their gatherings." 
When Earl Grey, who, as Premier, had endeavoured unsuccess- 
fully to pass a Reform Bill, resigned, and " the Duke " took his 
place, bells throughout the country were tolled, and black flags 
floated from many a tower and steeple. The country was in a 
frenzy of anger and disappointment. A monster meeting was 
held on Newhall Hill, and there, in half a dozen words, Muntz 
sounded the knell of the new Tory Ministry. In tones such as 
few lungs but his could produce, he thundered in the ears of 
attentive and eager listeners the words, " To stop the Duke, 
run for gold." There were no telegraphs in those days, but 
these words were soon known through the country. A run 
commenced, such as had seldom been known before, and if it 
had continued would have produced disastrous effects. The 
Duke was furious. Warrants were prepared for the appre- 
hension of Attwood, Scholefield, and Muntz, for sedition ; but 
the Ministry had not courage to put them in action. The 
excitement became more and more intense, and the great Duke, 
for the first time in his life, was compelled to yield. He 
resigned, and the unsigned warrants were found in the pigeon- 
holes at the Home Office by his successors. 

The Tory party — Conservatives had not then been inven- 
ted — seeing how hopeless the struggle was in which they tried 
to defeat the nation, gave way eventually, and the Reform 
Bill of 1832 became law. The president and vice-president 



G. F. MUNTZ, M.P. 85 

of the Political Union — Attwood and Scholefield — became the 
first Members for Birmingham, and political feeling was quiet 
for a time. It was soon seen, however, that, although the 
people had taken the outworks, the citadel of corruption had 
not yet been completely conquered. The church-rate question 
rose to the front, and became a burning matter of dispute. 
In Birmingham, on this question, public opinion ran very 
high. For many years the church-rate had been sixpence and 
ninepence in the pound per annum. This was felt to be a 
most intolerable burden by Churchmen themselves, and the 
Dissenters thought it a most unjust and unrighteous imposi- 
tion. For some years there had been very angry discussions 
on the subject, and most unseemly altercations at the vestry 
meetings. On Easter Tuesday, the 28th March, 1837, a 
meeting was called for the election of the churchwardens of 
St. Martin's, and for the making of a rate. It was held in 
the Church. The Rev. Mr. Moseley, rector ; Mr. Joseph Baker, 
who at that time was clerk to Mr. Arnold, the Vestry Clerk ; 
Mr. GJ-utteridge, surgeon; Mr. Freer, and others, took their 
places in a pew on the north side of the organ. Mr. Muntz, 
Mr. George Edmonds, Mr. Pare, Mr. Trow, and others in 
great numbers, sat on the south. The Rector took the chair, 
and proposed Mr. Reeves as his warden for the coming year. 
To this, of course, there was no opposition, but on the rector 
saying he should now proceed to elect a people's warden, a 
row began. Mr. Pare contended that the rector — ex officio — 
had no right to act as chairman while the parishioners elected 
their warden. Muntz proposed another chairman ; the parish 
books were demanded to be shown ; but Mr. Baker put them 
under his feet and stood upon them. Muntz mounted to the 
top of the pew and demanded the books, and a scene of great 
disorder and riot ended in nothing being done. The whole 
scene appears to have been one of indescribable confusion. 
The rector was a timid, nervous man, who seemed during the 
whole proceedings to have almost lost his wits. When Baker 
refused to give up the books, a rush was made upon the 
rector's pew, amid cries of "Pitch him over," "Get the 
books," &c. The panelling of the pew was smashed to atoms. 
In the midst of the scene, Muntz's burly form was seen, brand- 
ishing his well-known stick. Grutteridge is described as 
"making incessant grimaces and gesticulations, in a manner 
which induced the crowd to call him ' Punch,' and to ask him 



86 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

why he had not brought ' Judy ' with him." In fact, the whole 
proceeding was a disgraceful brawl. 

For his complicity in this business a criminal information 
was laid against Muntz, and he was brought, with two or three 
others, to trial at Warwick, before Chief Justice Park and a 
special jury. The charge was " tumult, riot, and assault upon 
Gutteridge and Rawlins." The trial commenced on Friday, 
March 30, 1838, and lasted three entire days. The result 
was a virtual acquittal, Mr. Muntz having been found guilty of 
"an affray," and not guilty on the other twelve counts of the 
indictment. Campbell was counsel for the prosecution, and 
Wilde for the defence, and some sparring took place between 
them. Campbell in a very rude and insulting manner, cliaifed 
Muntz about his beard, and Wilde retorted with considerable 
scorn. The cost of the defence was over £2,000. 

In January, 1840, upon the retirement of Mr. Attwood 
from Parliament, Mr. Muntz became a candidate for the vacant 
seat, and was opposed by the notoriously bigoted Tory, Sir 
Charles Wetherell. The association of his name with the riots 
at Bristol a few years before did not add to his prospects of 
success in Birmingham. It was thought, however, that his 
relationship to Mr. Spooner would give him a chance, but the 
poll showed 1,454 votes for Mr. Muntz, and only 915 for Sir 
Charles. 

From the time of his entering the House of Commons, Mr. 
Muntz's political and public character seems to have become 
deteriorated. Whether increasing riches brought increasing 
conservatism of thought can be hardly ascertained now ; but 
there is no doubt that from this time the hereditary 
aristocratic tendencies of his mind began to gather force. The 
head of the paternal tree had long returned from exile 
to the family chateau, and resumed the position of a landed 
seigneur ; and his son, George Louis Muntz, cousin of George 
Frederic, had just been elected a Member of the French 
Chamber of Deputies. Why should not the Muntzes become 
a family of equal position in England ? No doubt this feeling 
became a ruling passion, and influenced his every thought. 

Still, he was a very vain man, and had always told his 
friends, publicly and privately, that at least he was politically 
honest and consistent ; and he was desirous — spite of his change 
of views — to retain this self -given character. Hence all sorts 
of eccentricities, inconsistencies, and absurdities. Hence his 



G. F. MUNTZ, M.P. 87 

constant habit of speaking one way and voting another, and 
hence his morbid sensitiveness to anything like adverse criti- 
cism. In fact, from this time he became utterly incomprehen- 
sible, and but for the grateful recollection of the many services 
of his younger days, would probably have found himself 
deserted by his political friends. 

At this time, too, the egotism, which in his later years 
became more manifest, began to show itself. He evidently 
thought himself somebody, and did not hesitate to say so on all 
occasions ; until, at length, it was painful to listen to a speech 
of his. I remember, about the time of the Crimean war, when 
the organisation of the English army was found to be so 
lamentably deficient, there was a society established in Bir- 
mingham called by some such name as " The Administrative 
Reform Association." A large meeting was held in Bingley 
Hall, at which all the leading Liberals of the town were present. 
George Dawson made a capital speech, and Muntz had "along 
innings." As we came out, poor Dawson said to me, " They 
won't be able to print Muntz's speech verbatim." " Why not ?" 
said I. " Why, my dear fellow, no printing office in the world 
would have capital I's enough." 

I have spoken of his dislike to adverse criticism. No one, 
now, can imagine how he would rage and fume if any news- 
paper dared to doubt the wisdom of any remark of his. Why, 
he nearly killed poor Chidlow, the bookseller ; shaking him 
almost to pieces for merely selling a paper in which he was 
severely criticised. While as for The Birmingham Journal, no 
red rag ever fluttered in the eyes of a furious bull ever caused 
more rage than the sight of that paper did to Muntz. That 
they should dare to doubt his infallibility was a deadly crime 
and an unpardonable sin. 

In opposition to this paper, Muntz started a paper of his 
own, The Birmingham Mercury, by which he lost a good deal 
of money, and did little good. The debts in connection with 
this newspaper were not paid until after his death. 

He certainly was a psychical curiosity, and his ways were 
" past finding out." He was bold and fearless physically, but 
there his courage ended. He avowed himself to be a 
Republican, yet he was an innate aristocrat. He was always 
declaiming against despotism and tyranny in the abstract, yet 
he was domineering and arbitrary in his household, in his 
family, and in his business. He affected primitive simplicity, 



88 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

yet was one of the vainest of men. In fact, his whole nature 
was a living contradiction. 

About the year 1852 he lost, by death, his youngest 
daughter, to whom he had been devotedly attached. This 
was a severe blow to him, and from this time the robust 
physical frame began to exhibit tokens of decay. His hair 
became gray, and streaks of silver were seen in his magnificent 
beard. At the election in March, 1857, it was observed that 
he had greatly changed. He continued to attend the House 
of Commons until the end of May, when he was somewhat 
suddenly taken severely ill. It was discovered by the medical 
attendants that internal tumours, of an alarming nature, had 
formed, and from this moment his recovery seemed hopeless. 
He bore his illness with great firmness, although his weakness 
became pitiable, and the fine frame diminished to a mere 
skeleton. He became at length unconscious, and on the 30th 
of July, 1857, he quietly passed away in the presence of his 
family. 

The disposition of his vast wealth was marked by great 
eccentricity. His will, when published, caused much adverse 
criticism, and uncomplimentary epithets were freely used. 
Suffice it to say here, that his property was most unequally, if 
not unfairly, divided amongst his family, and that he did not 
leave a farthing to the Charities of the town of his birth — the 
town which had done so much for him, and for which he had 
always professed so much attachment. 



89 



JOSEPH GILLOTT. 



A BOUT a hundred and fifty years ago, a gentleman, whose 
•l*- name I have not been able to ascertain, owned the premises 
in Icknield Street West, now known as Monument House, and 
in his garden, near the house, he built the tall octagonal tower, 
now known as the Monument, respecting the origin of which 
so many various legendary stories are current. It was, no 
doubt, erected to enable its owner, who was an astronomer, to 
obtain from its upper chamber a more extensive field of view 
for his instruments, and thus to enable him to make observations 
of the heavenly bodies when they were very low down in the 
horizon. I am informed, however, by an old inhabitant of 
Edgbaston, that his father told him, when a little boy, that it 
was built by a gentleman named Parrott, who formerly lived 
in the top house in Bull Street, at the corner of Steelhouse 
Lane. This gentleman had removed to the house now called 
Monument House, and built the "Monument" in his garden 
to enable him — when from age he became too much enfeebled 
to enjoy it himself — to watch from its upper storeys the sport 
of coursing, which was extensively practised in the pleasant 
fields and meadows which then surrounded the house. Be 
that as it may, it is certain that the tower was, a century 
ago, known by the name of " Parrott's Folly."* 

From the top storey of this lofty building there was a very 
extensive range of vision, but when first built there was little to 
be seen but green fields and open country. Of the few buildings 
visible, Lady wood House, still standing, occupied the foreground, 
and was surrounded by a pleasant park. Apparently just beyond 
was the fine old mansion known as New Hall, which stood 
where now Great Charles Street intersects Newhall Street, 
the present roadway being the very site which the house 

* In a Directory for the year 1800, Monument House is named as the residence 
of Mr. Parrott Noel. 



90 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

then occupied. St. Philip's Church was being built, and the 
scaffold of its unfinished tower and dome looked like a huge net 
of wickerwork. A little to the left, Aston Hall, in the clear 
atmosphere, seemed only about a mile away. Beyond, on a 
gentle eminence, Coleshill was distinctly visible, and in the far 
distance the tower of St. Mary's Church at Coventry reared 
to the dim and hazy sky its exquisitely tapered and most 
graceful spire. 

I stood within this upper room, a few years ago, on a 
pleasant evening in the summer-time. From its windows there 
is still a very extensive view, but how changed ! On all sides 
but one there is nothing to be seen, under the dingy cloud of 
smoke, but a weary, bewildering mass of dismal brick and 
mortar ; and even on the north-west, where there are still a few 
green fields and pleasant gardens in the neighbourhood of the 
two reservoirs, the eye, reaching beyond there, comes upon the 
dark and forbidding regions to the west of Dudley. As on 
that glorious evening I turned my telescope to this point, I 
was startled by a very curious sight. I had placed the 
instrument in such a manner that its " field " was completely 
filled by the ruby-coloured disc of the setting sun. As I looked, 
I saw the singular apparition of a moving " whimsey " at the 
top of Brierley Hill, dark and black against the shining surface. 
It was an extraordinary illusion, for it looked exactly as if the 
rising and falling beam of the engine were attached to the 
surface of the sun itself. 

On the same side, I saw, almost at the foot of the tower on 
which I stood, a little enclosed garden. It contained at one 
end a long, low, pavilion-like building, and, here and there, 
some pleasant alcoves and garden seats. I heard the sound 
of merry voices, and I saw two or three sets of gentlemen 
playing the game known by the unpoetical name of " quoits." 
Upon inquiry I was told that this was the private ground of 
the Edgbaston Quoit Club, a select body, consisting mainly 
of well-to-do inhabitants of that pleasant suburb. By the 
courtesy of one of the members, I was a few days afterwards 
conducted over these premises. It was not a club day, so 
we were alone. The low pavilion, was, I found, the dining- 
room of the club — 'for on club days the members met to dine, 
as a preliminary to the play. It was plainly and very com- 
fortably furnished, and every arrangement seemed to have been 
made that could conduce to the convenience of the members. 



JOSEPH GILLOTT. 91 

At one end was a long row of hat-pegs, and npon these, at 
varions angles, hnng a singular assortment of garden hats and 
caps, of every imaginable shape and colonr. They were the 
neglige head-coverings of the members, and though altogether 
dissimilar in most respects, they were alike in one — they were 
all of very large size. 

Phrenologists tell us that the size of a man's head is 
indicative of his mental power, and these hats certainly bore 
out the theory, for their owners were mostly self-made men, 
and were, without exception, men of mark. I will not mention 
the name of any of those now living, but two of the largest 
hats there belonged respectively to Walter Lyndon and Joseph 
Grillott. 

Mr. Grillott, we are told, in a newspaper published soon 
after his death, was " born of poor but honest parents." I 
should like very much to inquire here, how it is that novel 
writers, magazine contributors, and newspaper reporters 
always write "poor hut honest." Is there really anything 
antithetic or antagonistic in poverty and honesty ? To my 
mind the phrase always seems offensive, and it will be well if 
it is discontinued in the future. It is one of those little bits 
of clap-trap so common among reporters, who use phrases of 
this kind continually, without a thought as to their 
appropriateness . 

However, Joseph Gillott was born in Sheffield about three 
months before the present century commenced. His parents 
were poor, but they managed to give him a good plain educa- 
tion, and they taught him self-reliance. They taught him, too, 
to train and cultivate the fine faculty of observation with which 
he was naturally endowed. In very early life, we are told, he, 
by forging and grinding the blades of pen-knives, contributed 
greatly to the income of the parental household. It is said 
that even at a very early age, his quick perception and his 
acute nervous organisation enabled him to produce much finer 
work than others of far greater experience in the same trade, 
whose obtuseness had kept them in a state of comparative 
drudgery all their lives. 

When he became of age, and was "out of his time," the 
cutlery trade in Sheffield was very much depressed, and he 
came to Birmingham, hoping to obtain employment in a trade 
which, owing to a caprice of fashion, was just then in an inflated 
condition. This was the business of making steel buckles, and 



92 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

other articles of polished steel for personal adornment. In this 
he was very successful, and soon after his arrival iu the town, 
he took a small house in Bread Street, a little way down on the 
right from Newhall Street, and here he started business for 
himself. He had no capital, but he had great skill. Mr. S. A. 
Goddard, who used to buy from him, tells me that he made 
very excellent goods, and "came for his money every week." 
He was a very excellent workman, and possessing as he did 
the native perception of fitness which we call " taste," he soon 
obtained abundance of orders, and became prosperous. 

At this time the steel pen trade, which has since grown to 
such enormous dimensions, was only in a tentative condition. 
Josiah Mason, in conjunction with Perry, of The Morning 
Chronicle newspaper, was experimenting, and two brothers, 
named respectively John and William Mitchell, were actually 
making, by a tedious method, a fairly good article. They were 
assisted in their work by a sister. By some fortunate accident, 
Gillott and Miss Mitchell met, and after a brief courtship they 
entered into an engagement to marry. She spoke to her 
intended husband of the nature of her occupation, and Gillott 
at once conceived the idea that the press, the useful implement 
then used principally in the button trade, might, if proper tools 
could be made to suit, produce pens in large numbers very rapidly. 
With his own hands, in a garret of his house, he secretly 
worked until he had succeeded in making pens of a far better 
quality than had yet been seen. His process was one in which, 
unassisted, he could produce as many pens as twenty pairs of 
hands, working under the old system, could turn out. There 
was an enormous demand for his goods, and as he wanted help, 
and secrecy seemed needful, the young people married, and 
Mr. Gillott used to tell how, on the very morning of his 
marriage, he, before going to the church, made with his own 
hands a gross of pens, and sold them at Is. each, realising 
thereby a sum of £7 4s. 

Continuing to live in the little house in Bread Street, the 
young couple worked in the garret, no one else assisting. As 
an illustration of the primitive condition of the steel pen trade 
then, it may be mentioned that at this period the pens were 
" blued " and varnished in a common frying-pan, over a 
kitchen fire. Orders flowed in so rapidly, and the goods were 
produced in such quantities, that the young couple made 
money faster than they knew what to do with it. They were 



JOSEPH GILLOTT. 93 -" 

afraid to invest it, as they did not wish, it to ooze out that the 
business was so profitable. It has been stated that Mr. Gillott 
had several banking accounts open at this time, being afraid that, 
if he paid all his profits into one bank, it might excite cupidity, 
and so engender competition. It is also said that he actually 
buried money in the cellar of his house, lest his marvellously 
rapid accumulation of wealth should become known. 

At length the demand for his pens became so great that it 
was impossible to resist the urgent necessity for larger premises 
and increased labour. Mr. Gillott, accordingly, removed 
to Church Street, and subsequently took other premises, 
up the yard by Mr. Mappin's shop in Newhall Street. 
About the same time, he removed his family to the house at 
the corner of Great Charles Street, where the Institution of 
Mechanical Engineers had its offices until its recent removal to 
London. After a few years, he commenced to build the 
premises in Graham Street, where the business has, ever since, 
been carried on. At the time the building was erected, there 
were few "factories," properly so called, in the town, and most 
of the work of the place was conducted in the low, narrow 
ranges of latticed-windowed buildings known as "shopping." 
Mr. Gillott's was, I think, the first Birmingham building in the 
modern factory style. It was admirably planned, and 
expensively built. Even now, when hundreds of factories 
have arisen, its solid and substantial appearance externally, 
and the arrangements inside, for order, and for the organisation 
of labour, are not surpassed by any of its rivals. 

As soon as Mr. Gillott's appliances were of sufficient extent 
to supply very large quantities, he commenced to advertise 
extensively, a practice which he continued during the remain- 
der of his life, and which his son and successor still follows up 
in a. modified form. I perfectly remember, more than forty 
years ago, his advertisements in the magazines, and on the 
cover of the " Penny Cyclopaedia." Like everything that 
Mr. Gillott did, they bore the impress of original thought. 
After giving his name and address, and a few other particulars 
as to his wares, the advertisements went on to say something 
like this : 

"The number of pens produced in this factory in the year ending 
December 31st, 1836, was 

250,000 grosses, 
or 3,000,000 dozens, 
or 36,000,000 pens." 



94 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

The advertisements invariably had the fac-simile of Mr. 
Gillott's signature, as now ; a signature better known, perhaps, 
than any other in the world, and one with which almost every 
human being who can write is perfectly familiar. Of course it 
will be understood that the quantities given above are altogether 
imaginary. It is impossible to remember the exact figures 
after so many years, but they are inserted to show the form the 
advertisements then took. 

Faster than the improved facilities at his command enabled 
him to produce, came the demand for his pens. To meet this, 
he brought from time to time into use many mechanical appli- 
ances, the product of his fertile and ingenious brain, until at 
length every one of the old processes was superseded, and 
labour-saving machinery substituted. The price of the pens fell 
from a shilling each to less than that sum per gross, and the 
steel pen came into universal use. The enormous number of 
pens produced in Mr. Gillott's works can scarcely be set down 
in figures, but may be estimated roughly, from the statement 
made at the time of his death that the average weight of the 
weekly make of finished pens exceeded five tons. I have tried, 
by experiment, to arrive at an approximate estimate of the 
number of pens this weight represents. I have taken a "scratch" 
dozen of pens, of all sorts and sizes, and ascertaining their 
weight, have calculated therefrom, and I find that the result is 
something like sixty thousand grosses, or the enormous number 
of nearly nine millions of separate pens, sent out from this 
manufactory every week. 

In the course of the forty or fifty years during which 
Mr. Gillott was in business, many other manufactories of steel 
pens were established, at some of which, probably, greater 
numbers of pens were produced than at his own, but the 
amount of business transacted was in no case, probably, so great. 
Mr. Gillott did not compete in the direction others took — 
lowness of price. Like his brother-in-law, Mr. William 
Mitchell, he preferred to continue to improve the quality. It 
is somewhat remarkable that, after long years of active and 
severe competition, these two houses — the oldest in the trade, I 
believe — have still the highest reputation for excellence. 

It has often occurred to me that the invention of steel pens 
came most opportunely. Had they not been invented, Rowland 
Hill's penny postage scheme would probably have failed. There 
would not have been, in the whole world, geese enough to 



JOSEPH GILLOTT. 95 

supply quills to make the required number of pens. Had 
Byron lived a little later on, his celebrated couplet would not 
have apostrophised the " gray goose quill," but would probably 
have run something like this : 

" My Gillott pen ! thou noblest work of skill, 
Slave of my thought, obedient to my will." 

My purpose, however, in this sketch is not to write a 
history of the trade by which Mr. Gillott raised himself to fame 
and fortune, but rather to describe the man himself, as he 
moved quietly and unobtrusively among his fellow men. One 
of his chief characteristics, it has always struck me, was his 
intense love of excellence in everything with which he had to 
do. It was a frequent jocular remark of his that " the best 
of everything was good enough for him." In this — perhaps 
unknowingly — he followed Lord Bacon's advice, " Jest in 
earnest," for he, certainly, earnestly carried out in life the 
desire to do, and to possess, the " best" that could be attained. 
Of this peculiarity, some very pleasant stories can be told. 

Soon after he had purchased the beautiful estate at Stan- 
more, near Harrow-on-the-Hill, which he loved so much, and 
where, in company with his old friend, Pettitt, the artist, he 
spent so much time in his latter years, he resolved to 
adorn the grounds with the rarest and most beautiful 
shrubs and trees obtainable. The trustees of the Jephson 
Gardens, at Leamington, about the same time, advertised for 
sale some surplus plants of rare kinds, and Mr. Gillott paid 
the gardens a visit. He had selected a number of costly speci- 
mens, when his eye fell on a tree of surpassing beauty. He 
inquired its price, and was told that it was not for sale. He was 
not a man to be easily baffled, and he still tried to make a 
bargain. He was at length told that an offer of £50 had 
already been made for the tree, and refused. His reply was 
characteristic : " Well, I've made up my mind to have that 
tree, and I'll give £100 for it. This offer, with the amount of 
those I have selected, will make my morning's purchases come 
to three or four hundred pounds. If I don't have this tree, I 
won't have any." He had it, and it still adorns the magnificent 
lawn at Stanmore. 

Few people know that he had a fancy for collecting precious 
stones, simply as rarities. Poor George Lawson (whose tall, 
erect, and soldier-like figure was well known in the streets of 



96 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

Birmingham and at picture sales, and whose thoroughly good- 
natured, genial, hearty manner, and singular wealth of humour, 
made him the favourite "of all circles, and the idol of his own") 
told me a capital story illustrative of this. One of Mr. Lawson's 
daughters complained to him of tooth-ache, and he advised her 
to have it extracted. The young lady, who had inherited a 
large share of her father's rare humour, went immediately to 
the dentist and had the objectionable tooth removed. There 
had been a calf's head on the dinner-table that day, and the 
young lady, on her return, obtained from the cook one of the 
large molars from the jaw of the calf, which, having been care- 
fully wrapped in paper, was presented to her father as her own. 
He saw through the trick in an instant, and affecting great 
astonishment at its enormous size, he put it in his waistcoat 
pocket, as a curiosity, forming in his own mind a little plot for 
the following day, when he had an engagement to dine out. 
The dinner party was at Walter Lyndon's house at Moseley, 
and here he met Grillott. Lawson, at table, was seated next to 
a gentleman from London, who wore on his forefinger a ring 
containing a very magnificent diamond ; so large, indeed, as to 
excite Lawson's attention so much that at length he spoke, 
*' You must really excuse me, but I cannot help admiring the 
splendid diamond in your ring." " Yes, it's a pretty good one," 
said the gentleman, handing it to Lawson for inspection. It 
was passed round the table until it reached Grillott, who care- 
fully inspected it and said, " It's a very good one ; but I think 
I have one that'll ' lick ' it." Putting his hand into the breast 
pocket of his coat, he brought out two or three shabby-looking 
screwed-up bits of paper. Selecting one of these, he opened 
it, and produced therefrom an unmounted diamond, far sur- 
passing in size and purity the one in the ring. Precious stones 
generally became at once the topic of conversation, and it was 
wondered whether an emerald of equal size would be of equal 
or, as one contended, even greater value. One gentleman 
present said that an emerald so large had never yet been seen. 
Gillott's eye twinkled with a merry humour, as, from another 
bit of paper, he produced an emerald larger than the diamond, 
and a minute afterwards trumped both these with a splendid 
ruby. It was now Lawson's turn. Assuming a serious look, 
he said that Mr. Gillott's specimens were certainly very 
remarkable, bat he could " beat them hollow." Then, with an 
air of great mystery and care, he produced from his pocket 



JOSEPH GILLOTT. 97 

the carefully-enveloped tooth, which he exhibited to his aston- 
ished friends as the identical tooth taken from his daughter's 
jaw the day before. 

It is well known that Mr. Gillott had accumulated a very 
large and fine collection of violins and other stringed musical 
instruments. These, when sold by auction after his death, 
fetched, under the hammer, upwards of £4,000. About 
twenty years ago an old friend of mine in Leicestershire, who 
had met with some heavy losses, desired to sell a fine 
Stradivarius violin, which had been in his family more than a 
century, and he sent it to me that I might offer it to Mr. Gillott. 
I called upon him to ask permission to bring it to him for 
inspection. I can recall now the frank, honest, homely York- 
shire tone with which he said, " Nay, lad ! I shan't buy any 
more fiddles ; I've got a boat-load already." He wouldn't 
look at it, and I sent it back to its owner, who is long since 
dead. 

World-wide as was his reputation as a manufacturer, he 
was almost equally renowned as one - of the most munificent 
and discriminating patrons of Art. Possessing, naturally, a 
most refined taste, and having very acute perceptive powers, 
he instinctively recognised the true in the work of young 
artists ; and when he saw tokens of more than common ability, 
he fostered the budding talent in a very generous spirit. So 
much was thought of his judgment, that the fact of his having 
bought a picture by an unknown man was quite sufficient to 
give the artist a position. I heard a story from a Liverpool 
artist the other day, very characteristic of Mr. GHllott's firm 
and determined, yet kind and generous, nature. It is well 
known that he very early recognised the genius of the gifted 
Miiller, and became his warm supporter. One result of his 
patronage was that others sought the artist, and by offers of 
large prices and extensive commissions, induced him to let 
them have some of his pictures, which Gillott was to have 
bought. Miiller appears to have become inflated by his great 
success, and he, in this or some other way, managed to annoy 
his early friend and patron in a very serious manner. His 
punishment was swift, severe, and sure. Gillott immediately 
packed off every Miiller picture he possessed to an auction 
room in London, with directions that they should be exten- 
sively advertised as his property, and sold without the slightest 
reserve. This step so frightened the Art- world that " Miillers " 



98 • PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

became a drug in the market, and poor Muller found himself 
neglected by his quondam friends. He soon came in penitence 
to Gillott, who again took him by the hand, and befriended 
him until his untimely death in 1845, at the age of 33. At 
the sale of Mr. Gillott's pictures after his decease, Miiller's 
celebrated picture, " The Chess Players," fetched the enormous 
sum of £3,950. 

The story of Mr. Gillott's introduction to the great land- 
scape painter, Turner, has been variously told, but the basis of 
all the stories is pretty much the same. It seems that Gillott, 
long before Ruskin had dubbed Turner " the modern Claude," 
had detected the rare excellence of his works, and longed to 
possess some. He went to the dingy house in Queen Anne 
Street, and Turner himself opened the door. In reply to 
Gillott's questions, he said he had " nothing to sell that he 
could afford to buy." Gillott, by great perseverance, obtained 
admission, and tried at first to bargain for a single picture. 
Turner looked disdainfully at his visitor, and refused to quote 
a price. Still Gillott persevered, and at length startled the artist 
by asking, " What'll you take for the lot in this room?" 
Turner, half-jokingly, named a very large sum — many 
thousands — thinking to frighten him off, but Gillott opened 
his pocket book, and, to Turner's utter amazement, paid down 
the money in crisp Bank of England notes. From this moment 
the two men, so utterly unlike in their general character, but 
so strangely kindred in their love of Art, became on intimate 
terms of friendship, which lasted until Turner's death in 1851. 
Mr. Gillott's collection of Turner's works was the largest and 
finest in private hands in England, and, when they were 
sold, realised more than five times the money he had paid 
for them. 

Mr. Gillott was not, in any sense, a public man, and he 
took no active part in politics. He had a great dislike to 
public companies, and I believe never held a share in one. 
He had a very few old friends with whom he loved to asso- 
ciate. He was very hospitable, but he had a strong aversion 
to formal parties, and to every kind of ostentation. His 
chief delight was to act as cicerone to an appreciative visitant 
to his magnificent gallery. He was a frequent visitor to the 
snug smoking-room at the " Hen and Chickens," where poor 
"Walter" always brought him, without waiting for an order, 
what Tony Weller called the " inwariable " and a choice cigar. 



JOSEPH GILLOTT. 99 

He did not talk much, but, when he spoke, he had always 
"something to say." He left early, and went from there, 
almost nightly, to the Theatre Royal, where he occupied, 
invariably, a back seat of a certain box, and here, if the 
performances were a little dull, he would often enjoy a com- 
fortable nap. 

In private life he was cheerful, easily pleased, and unaffec- 
ted. He was greatly beloved by children and young people. 
I wrote the other day to a lady, at whose father's house he 
was a frequent visitor, asking for her recollections of him ; and 
the reply is so pleasant and graphic, that, without her per- 
mission, I shall quote it verbatim : 

11 When he dined with papa it was always a ' gentlemen's ' party, 
and only mamma dined with them. We used to see the visitors at 
dessert only. I remember Mr. Gillott as- always being very cheery in 
manner, with a kind smile, and few words. As children, when we went 
to dancing parties at his house, he would come during the evening, with 
a few old friends (the fathers of the children assembled), and, standing 
in the door of the drawing-room, pat the children on the head and have 
a little joke with them as they passed him. He would stay for about 
half-an-hour or so, and then return with his friends down-stairs to smoke. 
I have heard papa, who, as you know, was no mean judge, say what a 
remarkably quick ear Mr. Gillott had for music. When they had been 
together to hear a new opera, he, on his return home, would whistle 
correctly the greater portion of the music, having only heard it once." 

Personally, Mr. Gillott was rather short, and was of broad 
and sturdy build. He had a remarkably firm step, and there 
was a rhythmic regularity in his footfall. He was fond of light 
attire, and generally wore a white hat. There was an air of 
freshness in his appearance that was very pleasant, and he had 
such a remarkably clean, look that I have often thought that 
his cleanliness was something positive, something more than the 
mere absence of dirt. He had a curious way, as he walked, 
of looking dreamily upon the ground a few yards in front of 
him, and when anyone met him his eye would rise with a kind 
of jerk ; then with a piercing glance he would intently, for a 
moment only, "take stock" of the passer by, and drop his 
eyes again. 

For the last two or three years of his life he was haunted 
by a fear of impending blindness. The thought of being shut 
out from the sight of his pictures caused him much gloomy 
apprehension. Happily, his fears were not realised. He 
retained his sight and other faculties unimpaired until his 



L.ofC. 



100 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

death. On the 26th of December, 1872, he, in accordance 
with his annual Christmas custom, assembled all his family to 
dinner, at his house in Westbourne Road, and in his kindly, 
affectionate manner spoke hopefully of meeting them there on 
the same day of the following year. It was not to be. On the 
next day he felt somewhat unwell ; in two or three days 
bronchitis and pleurisy supervened ; and in the afternoon of 
Friday, the 5th of January, 1873, his long, honourable, and 
useful life terminated. 







%£*i«44g~^*zzt> 



101 



HENKY VAN WABT, J.P. 



MANY years ago I was one of a small dinner party of gentle- 
men at a house in the Hagley Road. I was a comparative 
stranger, for I only knew the host and two others who were 
there. I was a young man, and all the other guests were men 
of middle age. The party had been invited for the purpose 
of introducing me to " a few old friends," and I was to be 
married the next day to a relative of the host. Sitting opposite 
to me at table was a gentleman of some fifty or sixty years of 
age, whose fine oval face and ample brow struck me as having 
the most benevolent and " fatherly " expression I had ever seen. 
The custom had not then quite died out of toasting the guests 
at dinner parties, and upon a hint from the host this gentleman 
rose, and in simple and apparently sincere pbrase, proposed to 
the company to drink my health. I mention it now, because 1 
remember in what a kindly, genial way he pointed out to me 
the course of conduct best calculated to secure happiness in the 
state into which I was so soon to enter. I recollect, too, how 
his voice faltered as he spoke of his own long and happy 
experience as a husband and a father, and mentioned that in 
one great trouble of his life it was the loving support of his 
wife that enabled him to bear, and eventually to overcome it. 
The speaker was Henry Van Wart. 

I suppose the impressionable state of my own mind at the 
time, made me peculiarly susceptible to external influences, and 
fixed minute circumstances more intensely on my memory ; so 
that I now vividly recall the thought which then occurred to 
me — that I had never before seen so much gentleness and calm 
quiet benignity in a man. The impression then rapidly formed 
has lasted ever since, for in all the long years from that day 
until his death I never had cause to abate one jot of the 
reverential feeling with which he then inspired me. I have 



102 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

had hundreds of business transactions with his house ; I have 
seen him often in the magistrate's chair ; and I have met him 
publicly and privately, and he had always the same bland, 
suave, courteous, and kindly bearing. Strength of character 
and gentleness of conduct and manner were so combined in 
him that he frequently seemed to me to be a living proof of the 
truth of a saying of poor George Dawson : " The tenderness 
of a strong man is more gentle than the gentleness of the most 
tender woman." 

Mr. Van Wart was an American by birth, and a Dutchman 
by descent. His ancestors emigrated from Holland about the 
year 1630 to the colony of New Netherland, established in 
North America by the Dutch in the year 1621. The capital 
of this settlement was named New Amsterdam, and was built 
upon the island of Manhattan, the entire area of which, now 
completely covered with buildings, and comprising the whole 
site of the city of New York, had been bought from an 
Iroquois chief, in fee-simple, for twenty-four dollars, being 
at about the rate of a penny for twelve acres ! In 1652, New 
Amsterdam, then having about a thousand inhabitants, was 
incorporated as a city. Twelve years after, the entire province 
was seized by the British, under Colonel Nichols, and was 
re-named by him "New York." The Dutch made some un- 
successful attempts to recover possession, and they held the city 
for a short time, but in 1674 the whole colony was ceded by 
treaty to the English, who held it until the War of Indepen- 
dence. When they quitted it, on November 25th, 1783, Henry 
Van Wart was exactly two months old. 

The struggle for the independence of the American states 
had been going on with varying success for many years, but 
the tide at length turned so decidedly against the British, that 
an armistice was sought and agreed upon. Hostilities were 
suspended, and a conference met in Paris. Here a treaty, 
acknowledging the independence of America, was agreed to by 
England, and signed on the 3rd of September, 1783. On the 
25th of the same month, Henry Van Wart was born at 
a pretty village on the banks of the Hudson, called Tarrytown r 
a place since celebrated as the " Sleepy Hollow " of Washing- 
ton Irving's delightful book, but at that time remarkable as 
the scene of one of the most distressing incidents in all the 
wretched struggle then just over — the capture of the unfortu- 
nate Major Andre. 



HENRY VAN WART, J. P. 103 

Mr. Van Warfc, feeling little inclination for his father's 
business of a farmer, was apprenticed to the mercantile firm of 
Irving and Smith, of New York. In accordance with the 
usage of the times, he became an inmate of the household of 
Mr. William Irving, the head of the firm. Mr. Irving, like 
his gifted brother, Washington, was a man of extensive 
reading and considerable taste, culture, and refinement. Mr. 
Tan Wart's intercourse with the Irving family, had, no doubt, 
a considerable influence in forming his character. He probably 
learned from them the courtesy and kindness of manner which 
distinguished him through life. 

On the termination of his apprenticeship in the year 1804, 
Mr. Van Wart married the youngest sister of his employer, 
and was despatched by the firm, who had unbounded confi- 
dence in his integrity and judgment, to organise a branch of 
the house at Liverpool. Here his eldest son, Henry, was born 
in 1806, soon after which the Liverpool concern was abandoned, 
and Mr. Yan Wart returned to America, where he remained 
for some considerable period. 

Soon after the birth of his second son, Irving, in 1808, 
Mr. Yan Wart returned to England with his family, and com- 
menced business in Birmingham. He first occupied a house on 
the left-hand side of the West Bromwich road, at Hands worth. 
The house, which is occupied by Mr. T. R. T. Hodgson, is a 
stuccoed one, with its gable towards the road ; it stands near 
the " New Inn." After a short time he removed to the house 
at the corner of Newhall Street and Great Charles Street, 
which was, until recently, occupied by the Institution of 
Mechanical Engineers. 

He afterwards bought a stone-built house in Icknield Street 
West. This house stood on the right-hand side near the 
present Wesleyan Chapel. It is now pulled down. In con- 
nection with this purchase, a curious circumstance occurred. 
As already stated, Mr. Yan Wart was born a few days after 
England had acknowledged the independence of America. 
Those few days made all the difference to him. Had his birth 
occurred a mouth earlier, he would have been born a British 
subject. As it was, he was an alien, and incapable of holding 
freehold property in England. To get over this difficulty, he 
had to apply for, and obtain, a special Act of Parliament to 
naturalise him. This having passed, he was enabled to com- 
plete the purchase of the house, to which he soon removed. 



104 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Here his celebrated brother-in-law, Washington Irving-, came 
on a visit, and in this house the greater part of the " Sketch- 
book " was written. 

In 1814, the second American War was closed by treaty, 
and all the world was at peace. Business on both sides of the 
Atlantic became suddenly inflated, and there being at that 
time no restriction upon the issue of bank notes, mercantile 
transactions, to enormous amounts, were comparatively easy. 
Urged by American buyers, Mr. Yan Wart purchased very 
large quantities of Birmingham and other goods, which he 
shipped to New York. In a very short time, however, a 
revulsion came. Prices fell rapidly, in some cases to the extent 
of 50 per cent.; American houses by scores tottered and fell ; 
the Irvings could not weather the storm, and their fall brought 
down Mr. Van Wart. 

As soon as he was honourably released from his difficulties, 
he commenced another kind of business. He no longer sent 
his own goods for sale abroad, but bought exclusively on 
commission for other merchants. This business rapidly grew 
into one of the most extensive and important in Birmingham ; 
was continued by him until the day of his death, and is still 
in active operation. 

Having sold his house at Springfield to Mr. Barker, the 
Solicitor, he removed to a house at the top of Newhall Hill, 
then quite in the country. This house is still standing, but is 
incorporated with Mr. Wiley's manufactory, and is entirely 
hidden from view by the lofty buildings which have enclosed 
it. From here, about 1820, he removed to Calthorpe Road, 
then newly formed, where he occupied a house — the seventh, I 
think — on the left-hand from the Five Ways. From the back 
windows of this house he could look across fields and meadows 
to Moseley, there not being, with the exception of a few in the 
Bristol Road, a house or other building visible. Here 
Washington Irving was almost a constant visitor. Here 
" Bracebridge Hall " — the original of which was Aston Hall — 
was written, and in this house some of the most delightful 
letters published in Irving's biography were penned. After a 
few years, Mr. Yan Wart finally removed to "The Shrubbery " 
in Hagley Road, where he continued to reside until his death. 

After the death of his excellent wife, which occurred in 1848, 
he went on a long visit to America, and while there narrowly 
escaped death. He was proceeding from Boston to New York, 



HENRY VAN WART, J. P. 105 

up Long Island Sound, when a storm arose, and the vessel was 
wrecked upon the Connecticut shore. She lay some fifty yards 
from the land ; some of the passengers got on shore something 
as St. Paul did upon the island of Melita. Mr. Van Wart, 
deeming it safer to hold to the wreck, remained until he was 
getting benumbed, and feared losing the use of his limbs. 
Letting himself down into the water, he paddled and swam 
amongst the broken stuff from the ship until he reached the shore. 
He was, however, too much exhausted to get upon the land, 
but some one, who had observed his struggles, dragged him, 
quite insensible, from the water. He was carried on men's 
backs some half a mile, to a farm house, where he was 
hospitably treated, and nursed until he recovered. 

The character of a man who had so little of the "light and 
shade " of average humanity, and the placid current of whose 
life seemed so unrippled, offers none of those strong contrasts, 
and subtle peculiarities, which render the analysis of more 
stormy and unequal minds comparatively easy. His frank 
and open speech ; the kindly grasp of his hand ; his ever-ready 
ear for tales of trouble or difficulty ; the wise counsel, which 
was never withheld ; the general bland and suave manner ; 
the pleasant smile, and his remarkably genial, hearty greeting, 
will be long remembered, and they make it difficult to say 
anything of him, except in panegyric. 

There is one point, however, on which a word or two may be 
said, as I think he has been somewhat misunderstood. It has 
been said of him that he was "incapable of strong friendly 
attachments." I am of opinion that this impression may have 
been caused by his very genial manner amd hearty bearing. 
These may have led some to think that he felt towards them 
as a friend in the highest sense, while he looked upon them 
merely as acquaintances. His friendliness was general and 
diffusive, and certainly was not concentrated upon one or two 
objects, as is the case sometimes with intenser natures. That 
he loas capable of lasting friendship, however, one little circum- 
stance will show. Mr. S. D. Williams, of the Reservoir Road, 
one of the most intellectual men of whom Birmingham could 
boast, was an invalid for a very long time before his death, and, 
I believe, had not been outside his own gates for nearly thirty 
years. During the whole of that long time, up to within a few 
weeks of his death, Mr. Yan Wart never missed paying him a 
visit every Saturday evening. On these occasions they 



106 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

invariably played whist, a game of which Mr. Van "Wart, being 
a particularly skilful player, was remarkably fond. His 
punctuality in this matter was something remarkable ; at eight 
o'clock to the minute he arrived, and at five minutes to twelve 
exactly his coachman brought the carriage to take his master 
home. 

As a merchant, he was intelligent, sagacious, straight- 
forward, methodical, and strictly honourable ; and his cordial 
manner made him a universal favourite both among manu- 
facturers and customers. He was much beloved by his clerks 
and assistants, many of whom grew gray in his service. He 
was American Vice- Consul for a time, but from his first 
coming to England does not seem to have taken any great interest 
in American politics. During the Civil War in the States, 
although his sympathies were altogether with the North, he 
took no public part in the dispute, standing in strong contrast 
to his countryman and fellow townsman, Mr. Goddard, who 
wrote voluminously, and whose writings had a very marked 
effect upon the public opinion of England on that great 
question. As an English politician, Mr. Van Wart was neither 
very active nor very ardent. He was a Liberal, but incline 1 
to Whig views. He opposed Mr. Bright in his first contested 
election for Birmingham, but there is reason for thinking he 
regretted it afterwards. 

When the town was incorporated, in 1838, he was choser 
to be one of the Councillors for Edgbaston Ward, and on th< 
first meeting of the Council, was elected Alderman, an office he 
held for twenty years. He might have been Mayor at any 
time, but he invariably declined that honour. ^He was one of 
the first creation of Borough Magistrates, and he conscien- 
tiously fulfilled the duties of that office until near his end, 
when increasing deafness rendered him incapable. 

In private life he was greatly beloved. Those who had the 
pleasure of the acquaintance of Mrs. Van Wart say that he 
always treated her with remarkable deference and considera- 
tion,.*' as if she were a superior being." His intercourse with 
his gifted brother-in-law, Washington Irving, seems to have 
been of the most close and affectionate character. His 
presence at an evening party was always greeted with a hearty 
welcome, up to the latest period of his life ; and it was 
pleasant to see, when he was verging upon his 90th year, 
how young ladies seemed as desirous to meet his kindly 



HENRY VAN WART, J. P. 107 

glance as their great-grandmothers may have been sixty years 
before. 

Up to a year or two before his death, his robust constitution ; 
his quiet, regular habits ; his equanimity of disposition, and his 
temperate method of life, preserved his strength and vigour 
almost unimpaired. Few can forget his hale and hearty 
presence, as he strode along the* streets of Birmingham; his 
peculiar walk — the strange jerky spring of the hinder foot, and 
the heavy planting of the front, as if he were striking the earth 
with a powerful blow — marking his individuality, whilst the 
pleasant kindly smile of greeting, and the fall firm tones of his 
manly voice, gave evidence of vigour very rare in a man of 
his age. Even to the last his strength seemed unimpaired, and 
he succumbed to a chance attack of bronchitis, but for which 
his constitution seemed to possess sufficient stamina to have 
made him a centenarian. He died at his residence on the*15th 
of February, 1873, being then in his 90th year. 

He was a well-informed man, and had a most retentive 
memory. He had a great fund of quiet humour, and could 
tell a good story better than most men. He was a good judge 
. ,of character, and, as a magistrate, could distinguish between 
wjiat was radically bad in a prisoner, and the crime which was 
the outcome of want and wretchedness. During his long- 
Birmingham life of nearly seventy years, he was universally 
.respected, and when he descended into the grave it may be said 
that there was no one who could say of him an unkindly 
word. 

He was mainly instrumental in the establishment of the 
Birmingham Exchange, the idea of which originated with 
Mr. Edwin Lander. He exerted himself greatly in the estab- 
lishment of the company which erected the buildings, and he 
was its chairman until his death. The members of this insti- 
tution, to mark their sense of his worth, commissioned 
Mr. Munns to paint his portrait; and if any reader is desirous 
to see the " counterfeit presentment " of what Henry Van Wart 
was, he has only to enter the principal hall of the Exchange, 
where he will find a full-length portrait, at 87 years of age, of 
a man who, more than any other I have known, was entitled 
to— 

"The grand old name of Gentleman." 



108 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 



CHARLES SHAW, J.P., &c. 



TUST before the Great Western Railway Company began 
& the construction of their line from. Oxford to Birmingham, 
I was passing down Great Charles Street one afternoon, when 
my attention was attracted by some unusual bustle. Near 
the spot where the hideous railway bridge now disfigures the 
street, there was a row of carts and vans backed up to the 
curbstone of the pavement on the left. From a passage by 
the side of a large square brick-built house some brokers' men 
were bringing a variety of dingy stools, desks, shelves, 
counters, and other odds and ends of office furniture. Near 
the front door of the house, stood, looking on, a well-dressed, 
stout-built, florid- complexioned man, of middle height, and, 
apparently, of middle age. As I slackened my pace to observe 
more intently the operations of the brokers' men, this gentle- 
man approached me, and in courteous tones, and as if appealing 
to me for sympathy, said, "You can't imagine the pain these 
proceedings are giving me; I was born in this house more 
than fifty years ago; I have never been away from it long 
together ; I've been familiar, all my life, with the ' things ' 
they are carting away, and to see the old place stripped in this 
way, hurts me as much as if I were having one of my limbs 
cut off." As he spoke, his voice became tremulous, and tears — 
actual tears — rolled down his cheeks. I was amazed ; I was 
completely thunder-struck. The man who thus spoke, and 
who then shed tears, was, of all men in the world, the very 
last I should have thought capable of a tender emotion, or of a 
sentimental feeling about a lot of worn-out stools and tables. 
He was generally considered to be the hardest man in Birming- 
ham, and that this man should be capable of sentimentalism, 
even to tears, was a mystery to me then, and will be a sur- 
prise to most of those who only knew the man superficially. 



CHAELES SHAW, J.P. 109 

He was no other than Charles — or, as he was universally called, 
" Charley " — Shaw. The railway company, requiring the site 
of his business premises for the construction of their line, had 
bought the place, and an auction sale that day had disposed of 
the well-worn effects that were being carted away. 

Probably no Birmingham man occupying a prominent posi- 
tion, was ever so unpopular as Charles Shaw. He was generally 
disliked and somewhat dreaded. He was unscrupulous and 
regardless of truth, where truthfulness and his interests were 
antagonistic. His manners, frequently, went far beyond the 
limit of decent behaviour. I hope, however, spite of his 
many failings, to show, in the course of this sketch, that 
he had many redeeming qualities ; that he was a most useful 
citizen ; and that he was not altogether so black as he was 
painted. 

He certainly was a strange mixture of good and bad qualities. 
He seemed to be made up altogether of opposites. He 
was very bitter against any one who had offended him, yet he 
was not permanently vindictive. He was grasping in business, 
yet he was not ungenerous. He was a most implacable enemy, 
yet he was capable of warm and most disinterested friendship. 
He could descend to trickery in dealing, yet as a magistrate he 
had a high and most inflexible ideal of honour, honesty, and 
rectitude. He could be coarse in his conduct and demeanour, 
and yet he could occasionally be as courteous and dignified as 
the most polished gentleman. He was overbearing where 
he felt he was safe, yet where he was met by courage and 
firmness he yielded quietly and quickly. 

My own introduction, and subsequent acquaintance, were 
strangely characteristic of the peculiarly antithetic nature of 
the man. They began in ill-temper, and resulted in commer- 
cial relations of a most friendly nature, extending over many 
years, without a second unkindly word. The first time I saw 
him occurred one day when I was making a round of calls 
upon the merchants of the town, to exhibit a case of samples 
of goods of my own manufacture, and I called upon Mr. Shaw. 
Going up the passage I have mentioned above, and climbing a 
rickety stair, I found myself in a room containing a couple of 
clerks. Upon my inquiring for Mr. Shaw, one of them went 
into another room to fetch him, and I took the opportunity to 
note the peculiarities of the place. It was a long room with a 
sloping ceiling ; there were two or three very old, ink-stained, 



110 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

worm-eaten desks ; a dingy map hung here and there, and a 
few shelves and wooden presses were arranged upon the walls. 
The place had been whitewashed once, no doubt, but the colour 
was now about the same as that of a macadamised road, and 
the whole place seemed dirty and neglected. 

Presently Mr. Shaw appeared. I had heard his character 
pretty freely discussed, and I was prepared for a rough recep- 
tion. He looked at my samples, and inquired very minutely 
into the prices of each. As to one article, which I quoted to 
him at fifteen shillings the gross, I said that in that particular 
item I believed my price was lower than that of any other 
maker. He said nothing, but left me, went back to iris private 
office, returned with a file of papers, and selecting one, 
addressed me in angry tones, saying, " Now, just to show you 
what a blessed fool you are, you shall see an invoice of those 
very goods, which I have just bought at fourteen shillings." I 
was mistaken, that was very clear ; but I said, " It appears that 
I am wrong as to those, but here are other goods which no one 
but myself is making ; can we do business in these ? " This 
put him in a violent rage, for he stormed as he said, "No! 
You've made a consummate fool of yourself by making such a 
stupid remark. I've no confidence in you ; and where I've no 
confidence I'll never do business." By this time I was getting 
a little warm myself, and as I fastened up my case of patterns, 
I said, " I hope, Mr. Shaw, that the want of your confidence 
won't be the death of me. I always heard you were a 
queer fellow ; but if you generally treat people who call upon 
you on business in the way you have treated me, I'm not at all 
surprised at the name you have in the town." He looked at 
me furiously ; came two or three strides towards me, as if he 
would strike me; but, stopping suddenly, said, "I think you'd 
better be off." "I quite agree with you, sir," I replied; "it's 
no use my stopping here to be insulted." Upon this he 
returned to his private office ; the two clerks, who, during the 
"shindy," had been intently searching inside their desks for 
something they had lost, now put down the lids, and, looking 
at each other, grinned and tittered openly, while I, to their 
intense relief, took up my hat and departed. 

Two or three weeks subsequently, I had completed an 
article in my business which was strikingly novel, and I went 
•out to show a sample of it to my customers. Passing Mr. 
Shaw's warehouse, the thought occurred to me that it would 



CHARLES SHAW, J. P. Ill 

be good fun to call upon him again, and I accordingly soon 
found myself on the scene of the former interview. Mr. Shaw 
was there, and to my bold greeting, " Good morning, Mr. 
Shaw," made a sulky- sounding acknowledgment. I went on — 
"I was here the other day, and you told me you had no confi- 
dence in me ; but I've plenty of confidence in myself, and so 
I've come again." This seemed to amuse him, and he asked, 
"Well, what is it ? " I then showed him the sample article, 
and told him the price was thirty-six shillings the gross. He 
looked at it attentively, and said, " H'm ! Costs you about 
eighteen." I was in a bantering humour, and I replied, 
"No, I don't think it costs me more than twelve; but I 
don't mean to sell any under thirty-six." "Well," said he, 
"it's a very good thing. Send me ten gross." From that 
moment we were excellent friends ; I did business with him 
for many years, and our intercourse was always warm and 
friendly. 

Mr. Shaw's father was originally a working maker of 
currycombs, an article, before his day, entirely made by 
hand. In conjunction with his brother, he invented and took 
out a patent for cutting out and shaping the various parts by 
machinery, and so producing the entire article much more 
cheaply than before. It was a great success ; they readily sold 
as many as they could produce, and their profit was enormous ; 
it has been estimated by a competent judge to have been as high 
as two hundred per cent. They soon became rich, and established 
themselves as home and foreign merchants, and when they 
died, left, for that period, very large fortunes. They were 
both men of ability, but of no education, and they retained to 
the last the coarse habits of their early life. Mr. Charles 
Shaw, the subject of this sketch, was brought up in the 
factory, his daily associates being the working people of the 
place. Having himself no innate refinement, the want of 
good examples, and the prevalence of bad ones, at this period 
of his life, had a permanent effect upon his habits and 
manners, which in all his after prosperity he could never shake 
off. Had he been liberally educated, and in early life had 
associated with gentlemen, he might have risen to be one 
of the leading men of the nation. . He had enormous energy 
and great powers of steady, plodding perseverance. He had 
great influence over others, and his disposition, and capability 
to lead and to command, were sufficient, had they been 



112 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

properly trained and directed, to have carried him to a front 
rank in life. His early disadvantages prevented him from 
becoming other than a "local" celebrity; but, even circum- 
scribed as he was, he was a very remarkable instance of the 
combined effects of energy and method. He amassed a very 
large fortune, and left in full and active operation several very 
important trading concerns. Besides his various branches of 
foreign commerce, he was a manufacturer of currycombs, 
iron and brass candlesticks, frying pans, fenders, cast and 
cut nails, and various other goods; and, upon the whole, 
he* may be said to have been the most active and efficient 
merchant and manufacturer, of his generation, in the Midland 
Counties. 

In politics he was one of the very last of the old school of 
Tories, and he occasionally acted as a leader of his party in 
the town. His extreme opinions, and his blunt speech in 
relation to these matters, frequently got him into "hot water." 
He was not a "newspaper politician," for, singularly enough, 
he was rarely seen to look at a newspaper, even at the news- 
room (then standing on the site now occupied by the Inland 
Revenue Offices, on Bennetts Hill), which he regularly 
frequented. Upon political topics, I am not aware that he ever 
wrote a single line for publication in his whole life. 

Mr. Shaw was very generous to people for whom he had a 
liking. He has assisted many scores of struggling men with 
heavy sums, on loan, merely out of friendship. I happen to 
know of one case where he, for fifteen or twenty years, con- 
tinuously assisted a brother merchant, to. the tune of £10,000 
to £15,000, on merely nominal security, for which assistance 
he, for the most part, charged nothing whatever. 

In the great panic of 1837, Mr. Shaw, singly, saved the 
country from ruin and disaster. At the time when the panic 
was at its height, and the tension was as great as the country 
could bear, it became known to a few that one of the great 
financial houses in Liverpool was in extremities. They had 
accepted on American account to enormous amounts, and no 
remittances were forthcoming. One Birmingham bank alone 
held £90,000 worth of their paper, and acceptances to enor- 
mous amounts were held in London, and in every manufac- 
turing centre in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Application 
had been made to the Bank of England for assistance, to the 
amount of a million and a quarter, and had been refused. 



CHARLES SHAW, J.P. 113 

Ruin seemed imminent, not only to the house itself, but to 
the whole country. The calamities of 1825 seemed about 
to be repeated, and alarm was universal. Mr. Shaw took up 
the matter with his usual skill and wonderful energy. He 
went to London, and had three interviews with the Governor 
of the Bank of England and the Chancellor of the Exchequer — 
Mr. Francis Baring — in one day. He told them that they had 
no choice ; that they must grant the required relief ; that to 
refuse would be equivalent to a revolution, and would involve 
national loss to probably fifty times the amount now required. 
He undertook to obtain security to a large amount in Bir- 
mingham alone. Only the other day I had in my hand a bill 
for £8,000, given by one Birmingham merchant, as a portion 
of this security. He succeeded. The relief was granted. The 
house recovered its position, and still holds on its prosperous 
way; but, except the consciousness of well-doing, Mr. Shaw 
had no reward. The pecuniary value of his services to 
his country in this extremity it is impossible to estimate ; 
it is enough to say here that they out- weighed, and cast 
into the shade, his many personal faults and weaknesses. 
I have always thought, and still think, that the Government 
ought at least to have knighted him, as only a very slight 
acknowledgment of the invaluable and peculiar service he had 
rendered to the nation. 

Almost everybody knows that Mr. Shaw was, for many 
years, chairman of the old Birmingham Banking Company. 
In this capacity he was no doubt the means of introducing 
a large amount of profitable business. Unfortunately for the 
company, the manager of the branch establishment at Dudley 
made enormous advances to an ironmaster in that locality. 
The amount at length became so large that the directorate 
became alarmed, and deputed their chairman, Mr. Shaw, to 
see what could best be done for the interests of the bank. 
Mr. Shaw took the matter in hand. There was a good deal 
of secrecy about his manner of treating the matter, and 
eventually some of his colleagues on the direction were sus- 
picious that he was making use of his position in the bank 
for his own advantage. He was called upon to show his 
private account with the concern in question, to which he 
gave an unqualified refusal. His colleagues intimated to him 
that he must either do so or resign. The next post brought 
his resignation. Offering no opinion either way, but looking 



114 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

at tlie transaction as an outsider, I think it was an unfortunate 
business " all round." The bank lost money, and eventually 
collapsed, but I fully believed then, and I always shall believe, 
that if Charles Shaw had been at the helm, the bank never 
would have closed its doors. I believe he had energy enough, 
and influence sufficient, to have averted that great calamity ; 
and I am firmly of opinion that the company had sufficient 
vitality to have overcome the drain upon its resources, 
and that it might at this moment have been in vigorous 
existence. 

Many amusing stories are current as to Mr. Shaw's shrewd 
and keen transactions, and of cases where he himself was 
overreached. One of the best of these he used to tell with 
much humour. 

When the Great Western Company cut through Birming- 
ham, for their line to the North, a cemetery, pretty well filled, 
was on the route they selected. It was the Quakers' burial 
place, adjoining Monmouth Street, exactly where the Arcade 
commences. Mr. Shaw, being a director, negotiated the 
purchase of many Birmingham properties. This burial ground 
was one, and the Quaker community had for their agent a 
very shrewd spokesman. Shaw and he had a very tough fight, 
for the Quaker drove a hard bargain. At length terms were 
settled, and a memorandum signed. The negotiations had then 
lasted so long, that the contractors were waiting for this plot 
of land to go on with the work. Mr. Shaw therefore asked for 
immediate possession. " Oh, no, friend Shaw," said the 
Quaker, " not until the money's paid." This caused further 
delay, and annoyed Shaw. Preliminary matters being settled, 
the money was eventually handed over, and Shaw obtained the 
keys. The next day the Quaker appeared and said, " ISTow, 
friend Shaw, as everything is settled, I am come to arrange 
for the removal of the remains of our friends who are buried 
there." " Don't you wish you may get it ? " said Shaw ; 
"we've bought the freehold; all it contains is our property, 
and we shall give up nothing." This was a surprise, indeed, 
for the Quaker. He had nothing to say as to the position 
Shaw had taken up, and he had to submit to the modification 
of many stringent conditions in the deed of sale, before Shaw 
would give way. 

Such, sketched in a hasty manner, is an attempt to por- 
tray the apparently contradictory character of Charles Shaw. 



CHAKLES SHAW, J.P. 115 

It may be a failure ; but it, at least, is an honest endeavour. 
Such men are rare, and the ability to translate into words 
their peculiar mental workings is rarer still. I, however, 
shall be bold to say that if few Birmingham men have had 
so many failings, none probably have possessed so much com- 
mercial courage and ability. 

Soon after his retirement from the Board of the Birming- 
ham Bank, he had a slight attack of paralysis, from which he 
never properly recovered. Others followed at intervals, with 
the result that his fine physique was completely broken up. 
In the first week of December, 1864, I spoke to him on the 
platform of the Great Western Railway at Snow Hill. He 
was being half carried to the train, on his way to the sea-side. 
He never returned to Birmingham, but died at Brighton, 
January 4th, 1865, being 73 years of age. He was buried in 
the Churchyard of St. George's, Great Hampton Row. 



116 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 



ROBERT WALTER WINFIELD, J.P. 



1X/TR. Joshua Scholefield, who had represented Birmingham 
■*-*-*- from its incorporation in 1 832, having been elected five times, 
died somewhat unexpectedly in July, 1844. The Liberal party 
in the town was then in a somewhat disorganised condition, 
and there was considerable difference of opinion as to the choice 
of his successor. A large majority was disposed favourably 
towards his son, Mr. William Scholefield. The more advanced 
section of the party was of opinion that the many services of 
Mr. Joseph Sturge to the Liberal cause were such as to entitle 
him to a place in Parliament. Neither section of the party 
would give way. The Conservatives, who had previously 
contested four elections unsuccessfully, in two of which Mr. 
Richard Spooner had been the candidate, saw that the divided 
ranks of their opponents gave them a better chance of success 
than they had previously had, and they brought forward Mr. 
Spooner again. This time he was successful, the result of the 
poll being that Mr. Spooner received 2,095 votes; Mr. W. 
Scholefield, 1,735; and Mr. Sturge, 346. 

I was living in London at the time, but had arranged to 
spend a few days in August with a friend at Edgbaston. He 
was a Conservative, and I a Liberal ; but before I came down 
he had taken a ticket in my name, which entitled me to be 
present at the only purely Conservative dinner at which I 
was ever present. It was given at the Racket Court Inn, in 
Sheepcote Street, by the Conservative electors of Ladywood 
Ward, to celebrate Mr. Spooner's return. 

By virtue of my introduction, and in deference to me as a 
stranger, I was placed near the chairman at table. He was 
a man of singularly bland and kindly manners, and there was 
a frank and manly modesty in his style that attracted my 







^^ihiMu 



ROBERT WALTER WINFIELD, J. P. 117 

notice at once. In simple but appropriate, in unaffected yet 
dignified, phraseology, he went through the usual " loyal and 
patriotic " toasts. When it came to the toast of the day, he 
rose and congratulated the company upon the triumph of 
those principles which they all conscientiously believed to be 
right and true. There was no exultation over a discomfited 
foe. There ran all through the speech a benevolent and friendly 
feeling for both of the defeated candidates. Still, there was 
the outspoken feeling of intense gratification that the cause 
which he supported had been victorious. I have seldom listened 
to a speech where joy for a victory was so little mixed with 
exultation over the vanquished. In fact, although I differed 
altogether from the speaker in politics, I felt that the speech 
was that of a man devoid of all bitterness, whose kindness of 
spirit led him to rejoice, not over the defeat of his opponents, 
but at the success of his own cause. The speech was in 
excellent taste from beginning to end. 

The chairman was Robert Walter Winfield, and this was 
the first time I had met him. His singular courtesy to myself, 
as a stranger, I shall never forget. His perfect self-possession, 
when some of the company became a little too demonstrative, 
kept the table in perfect order. When he retired, my friend 
took his seat, and slily poured me a glass from Mr. Winfield's 
decanter. I found then, that during that long afternoon he had 
taken nothing but toast and water, which had been prepared 
to resemble sherry, and which he had taken from a wine-glass 
as if it were wine. 

I cannot say that I ever became very intimate with Mr. 
Winfield, although we knew each other pretty Well ; but limited 
as my means of acquaintanceship were, I watched his life with 
interest, because he struck me always as being one of the very 
few men I have known, who have been able to bear great 
success without becoming giddy with the elevation ; who have 
gone through life modestly and without assumption ; and who 
have won thereby the esteem of all those whose esteem has 
been worth caring for. 

Robert Walter Winfield was descended from an ancient 
family, which had been settled in Leicestershire for several 
generations. His grandfather, Edward Winfield, came to 
Birmingham about the middle of the last century, and resided 
in a large house, on the site of the Great Western Railway 
Station in Snow Hill. Here Mr. Winfield's father was born. 



118 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

He was a man of independent means, but appears for some 
short time to have been engaged as a merchant. He married 
a lady from Longhborough, named Randon, and built for his 
own occupation the house in the Hagley Road, Edgbaston, 
now occupied by Mr. Alfred Hill, the son of the late eminent 
Recorder of Birmingham, Matthew Davenport Hill. The house 
is now called "Davenport House." It was, I believe, the 
-first house erected on the Calthorpe estate. In this house, 
in April, 1799, Robert Walter Winfield, the third son, was 
born. His father died in his childhood. After his education 
was complete, his mother placed him with Mr. Benjamin Cooke, 
whose name as a manufacturer is still remembered in Birming- 
ham. Mr. Winfield's mind, being a peculiarly receptive one, 
readily grasped all the details of the business, and he soon 
wished to enter life on his own account. His trustees having 
great faith in his prudence and industry, advanced him the 
necessary capital, and he commenced business before he was 
twenty-one years of age. Just at the bend which Cambridge 
Street takes to arrive at the Crescent, there is a stuccoed 
building, almost hidden by the lofty piles around it. In this 
building he started on his commercial career, and in these 
works he continued to carry on his business until his death, 
some fifty years afterwards. 

Beginning in a comparatively small way, he started with a 
strict determination to conduct his business upon thoroughly 
honest and truthful principles. He had the sagacity to see 
that the surest way to success was to gain the confidence of his 
customers, and he firmly held through life to the system of 
rigid adherence to truth ; to the plan of always making honest 
goods ; and to the avoidance of every kind of misrepresentation 
as to the quality of his wares. He used to say that all through 
his long and successful business career he never lost a customer 
through misrepresentation on his part, and that he generally 
found that one transaction with a fresh man secured a per- 
manent customer. 

Another leading principle in his business programme was to 
employ the best workmen he could find, and the highest talent 
for superior offices he could secure. He probably paid higher 
wages and salaries than any manufacturer in the district. This 
proved to be wise economy in the long-run, for his goods 
became famous for excellence in design and workmanship, and 
were sought and prized in every market of the world. 



j.p. 119 

As his business fame increased, the development of his trade 
became enormous. Pile after pile of extensive blocks of build- 
ings rose, one after another, on ground adjoining the original 
manufactory, until at length the entire establishment covered 
many acres of ground. Many of these buildings were five or 
six storeys high. The machinery and tools were all of the very 
best quality that could be obtained, and use was invariably 
made of every suitable scientific appliance as soon as discovered. 
For many years Mr. Aitken, whose name in Birmingham will 
always be remembered in connection with Art, was at the head 
of the designing department of the works. His correct know- 
ledge and wonderful skill in the application of correct principles 
of form and colour to articles of manufacture for daily use, 
raised the fame of Mr. Winfield's house as high, artistically, 
as it was for excellence of material and workmanship. 

Mr. Winfield was one of the first, if not the very earliest, to 
apply the stamping process to the production of cornices, 
cornice-pole ends, curtain bands, and other similar goods. The 
singular purity of colour which, by skilful " dipping " and lac- 
quering, he was able to produce, at a period when such matters 
were little attended to, secured for his goods a good deal of 
admiration and a ready sale. At the time of the great 
Exhibition of 1.851, the goods he exhibited obtained for him the 
highest mark of approval — the Council Gold Medal. The Jury 
of Experts reported, in reference to his brasswork, that, " for 
brilliancy of polish, and flatness and equality of the ' dead ' or 
1 frosted ' portions, he stood very high ; and that in addition to 
very perfect workmanship, there frequently appeared con- 
siderable evidence of a feeling for harmony and for a just 
proportion and arrangement of parts." It is also mentioned 
that " in the manufacture of metallic bedsteads he has earned 
a deservedly high reputation." 

In addition to his brassfoundry trade, he gradually added 
the manufacture of brass, copper, and tin tubing, gas-fittings 
and chandeliers, iron and brass bedsteads, ship's fittings, brass 
fittings for shop fronts, and general architectural ornamental 
metal work of all kinds. He afterwards purchased the large 
establishment near his own works, called the Union Rolling 
Mill, where he carried on a very extensive wholesale trade in 
rolled metals of every kind, and brass and copper wire of all 
descriptions ; and he was, for forty years, largely engaged in 
the coal business. 



/ 



120 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

For a very long period Mr. Winfield was the sole proprietor 
of the extensive business he had created. He was assisted by 
his only son, Mr. John Fawkener Winfield, whose promising 
career was cut short by untimely death. This was a blow from 
which Mr. Winfield never entirely recovered. He soon after- 
wards took into partnership his relative, Mr. 0. Weston, and 
his old confidential clerk, Mr. J. Atkins. His health began 
to fail about this time, and he retired from the active control of 
the concern, retaining, however, his position as head of the 
firm until his death. 

His marvellous success did not arise altogether from brilliant 
mental qualities. I am disposed to attribute it to higher reasons. 
It seems to me that his high moral sense of integrity and right, 
and the benevolence of his character, had more to do with it. 
These led him constantly through life to give his customers 
excellence of quality in the goods he made, combined with 
moderation in price. In the execution of a contract he always 
gave better rather than inferior goods than he had agreed to 
supply. He would never permit any deterioration of quality 
either in material or workmanship. Where his competitors 
sought to reduce the cost of production, so as to enable them 
to sell their goods cheaper, his ambition led him to raise and 
improve quality. The fact of his goods being always honestly 
made, of good materials well put together, gave him the pre- 
ference whenever articles of sterling excellence were required. 
He was one to whom the stigma implied in the term " Brum- 
magem " would not apply, for he consistently carried out 
principles of integrity in business, and so earned for himself 
the right to be held up as a type of a high-minded, upright, 
conscientious English merchant. 

But he had a higher and a nobler mission than that of mere 
money-getting. He was a practical philanthropist. Quietly, 
modestly, unostentatiously, "he went about doing good." 
Placed in a position of command over many young people, he, 
early in life, recognised the fact that his duty to them was not 
fully done when he had paid them their wages. He resolved 
to do his best to raise them, mentally and socially. In this he 
was so successful, that at this moment there are many men 
occupying positions in life unattainable by them but for his 
assistance. There are clergymen, merchants, musical pro- 
fessors, and others, who began life as boys at Winfield's ; and 
there are probably some scores of large manufactories now in 



KOBERT WALTER WINFIELD, J.P. 121 

active operation in the town, the principals of which, but for 
Mr. Winfield's large-hearted and practical provision, would 
have remained in the ignorance in which he found them. 

Some thirty or forty years ago there was, nearly opposite 
the manufactory in Cambridge Street, a long, low, upper room, 
which was used as a place of worship by a small body of Dis- 
senters, and was called Zoar Chapel. Mr. Winfield became 
the tenant of this place for week-day evenings, and opened it 
as a night-school for the boys in his employ. In order to 
secure punctuality of attendance, he made the rule compulsory 
that every boy in the factory under eighteen years of age 
should attend this school at least three times a week. There 
was ample provision made for teaching, and no charge was 
made. The proceedings each night opened with singing, 
and closed with a short prayer. Once a week regularly, 
Mr. Winfield, Jun., held a Bible Class. Occasionally, too, the 
father would do so, and he frequently attended and delivered a 
short and simple address. Many parents eagerly sought em- 
ployment for their children at the works, that their sons might 
secure the benefit of the school, and Mr. Winfield soon had the 
"pick" of the youths of the town. The school attendance 
grew rapidly, and the little chapel was soon found too narrow. 
Larger premises were taken, and a class for young men was 
established. This class Mr. J. ~F. Winfield — then rapidly 
rising to manhood — took under his own charge, while the 
juniors were under the care of voluntary teachers. 

So beneficial in every way was the little institution found 
to be, that it was resolved to develop it further. Mr. John 
Winfield — inheriting his father's practically benevolent spirit — 
matured a plan, and requested his father to celebrate his 
coming majority by carrying it into effect. This was done, 
and the handsome school-room which now occupies a central 
position in the works was erected. Upon this building, 
including the cost of an organ and of the necessary fittings, 
Mr. Winfield spent no less than £2,000. The instruction was 
no longer left to voluntary effort. A properly qualified school- 
master was engaged, and the Government Inspector was 
requested to pay periodical visits. Drawing was made a 
special feature of the instruction, and the successful pupils in 
this class received Government rewards. Music also was 
taught. In fact, the school became a model of what an 
educational establishment should be. Once every year — on 



J 22 PEKSONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

Whit Thursday — there was Sifete at The Hawthorns, to which 
the scholars were invited. These gatherings were looked 
forward to with much pleasure, and few were absent. Music 
was provided, and appropriate addresses were delivered. 
Sumptuous hospitality was shown, and every effort was made 
to make these occasions socially enjoyable and morally 
beneficial. The prizes and certificates of proficiency were 
distributed in the school-room, at Christmas, in the presence 
of the whole of the employes of the Establishment. 

The school soon obtained more than local fame, and was 
visited from time to time by distinguished persons. At the time 
of the establishment of the Institution of Social Science, when 
the great Lord Brougham delivered his magnificent inaugural 
oration in the Town Hall, he was the guest of Mr. J. P. Winfield, 
and visited the works. The pupils and workpeople were 
collected in the school, and there had the gratification of 
listening to some of the wise words of that " old man eloquent." 
At this time the average nightly attendance at the school was 
something like 250 pupils. No one can calculate the good 
that has resulted from the establishment of this institution. 
No one can tell the feeling of gratitude that still rises in the 
minds of hundreds of well-to-do people for the benefits they 
there received. It has been very gratifying to me on many 
occasions to see in pleasant villas and cozy cottages the 
engraved portrait of Mr. Winfield, occupying a place of honour 
on the wall, and to hear gray-headed men say of him that he 
was the best friend they ever had, and that but for him they 
might have remained in the degradation from which he 
assisted them to rise. 

Mr. Winfield could scarcely be called a public man. Early 
in life he served the office of High Bailiff, and was placed upon 
the Commission of the Peace. He did not, upon the incor- 
poration of the town, seek municipal honours, and he rarely 
took part in political action. He was a very warmly-attached 
member of the Church of England, and in this connection was 
ardently Conservative ; but, although nominally a Conservative, 
he was truly Liberal in all secular affairs. He was an earnest 
helper in the movement for the better education of the people, 
and their elevation in other respects. He certainly always 
took the Conservative side at election times, but he never 
attempted unduly to influence his employes. Indeed, on polling 
days it was his habit to throw open the gates of his manufac- 



ROBERT WALTER WINFIELD, J. P. 123 

tory, so that his men might have full liberty to go and record 
their votes as they pleased. Whenever he did appear on a 
public platform, it was to aid by his presence or his advocacy 
the cause of the Church to which he was so much devoted, or 
to assist in some charitable or scholastic. effort. 

As a magistrate, he was one of the most regular attendants 
at the Public Office. I have seen him there many times, and 
have frequently been struck with the thought that when he 
passed sentence, it never sounded like an expression of the 
revenge of society for a wrong that had been done, but seemed 
rather to resemble the sorrowing reproof of a father, hoping 
by stern discipline to restrain erring conduct in a disobedient 
child. 

Very early in life he married Lucy, the only surviving child 
of Mr. John Fawkener, of Shrewsbury, and took up his 
residence in a large red brick house in New Street, which has 
only lately been pulled down. It stood nearly opposite the 
rooms of the Society of Artists. Its last occupant was 
Mr. Sharman, professor of music. About the year 1828, 
Mr. Winfield built a house in the Ladywood Road, which he 
named " The Hawthorns," and here he resided all his life. The 
neighbourhood was then entirely open, and from his house to 
his manufactory was a pleasant walk amid fields, through the 
noble avenue of elms that led to Ladywood House and Vincent 
Street bridge, and from thence by the bank of the canal to the 
Crescent, I often walked to town in his company, and admired 
with him the gorgeous apple blossoms of the trees in the valley 
now filled up by the railway. We stood together one day in 
1846 or 1847, and saw the first barrowful of soil removed from 
the canal bank, near the Crescent bridge, to form the opening 
which is now the railway tunnel. 

In private life few men have been more generally beloved. 
He was the embodiment of kindliness and consideration for 
everybody. His domestic servants and workpeople were 
warmly devoted to him, and many of them remained nearly all 
their lives in his service. Only very recently one of his 
domestic servants, who had continued after his death in the 
service of a member of his family, died at an advanced age, 
fifty-five years after entering his household. He was essentially 
a "domesticated" man, and his conduct as a husband and father 
was marked by unvarying benevolent regard and affectionate 
consideration. The death, in 1 86 1 , of his only son was the great 



124 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

trial of his life. His hopes and his ambitions had culminated 
in this son ; and when he was removed, the father staggered 
under the blow, and never properly overcame the shock it gave 
him. From that time he gradually failed in health, and retired 
from active life. Change of scene and release from labour 
were of no avail. He eventually became a confirmed invalid, 
and on the 16th of December, 1869, he passed away, to the 
great grief of his family. His loss was greatly deplored by his 
domestics and workpeople, and the whole population of Bir- 
mingham joined in expressions of regret at the loss of one who 
was so universally beloved and respected. 

He was followed to his grave in the beautiful churchyard 
at Perry Barr by the few surviving members of his family, by 
many friends, and by the whole of the people employed at the 
works. The day was a bitter wintry one, and the rain came 
down heavily. It was a touching sight ; thousands stood bare- 
headed beneath the inclement sky, as the body of their friend 
was laid to its rest, and, amid sobs and tears, joined with 
tremulous voices in singing — 

"Earthly cavern, to thy keeping 

We commit our brother's dust ; 
Keep it safely, softly sleeping, 

Till our Lord demand thy trust." 



125 



CHARLES GEACH, M.P. 



T MENTIONED, in the sketch of Mr. Gillott, that all the 
•*- members of the Edgbaston Quoit Club had very large 
heads, and that this fact seemed to bear out the phrenological 
theory, that size of head was indicative of mental power. As 
a further proof I may mention here, that the late Mr. Charles 
Geach had the largest head in Birmingham. I was told by 
the tradesman who used to supply him with hats, that such 
was the extraordinary size of his head, that his hats had always 
to be specially made for him. The theory in his case cer- 
tainly was fully justified, for if ever a man lived who had 
powerful mental qualities, it was the gentleman whose name 
stands at the head of this sketch. 

Mr. Greach was born in the county of Cornwall, in the year 
1808, and at a suitable age took a situation as junior clerk in 
the head office of the Bank of England, in London. There, 
his quickness, accuracy, and ready grasp of complicated 
matters, soon proved to his superiors that he was no ordinary 
youth, and he was rapidly promoted. In 1826, when the 
branch was established in Birmingham, Captain Nichols, the 
first manager, who had noticed Geach at work, sought and 
obtained permission from the directors to include him in the 
staff of clerks which he brought down. Geach, accordingly, 
at the age of 18, came to the town with which his whole 
future life was destined to be connected. 

For ten years he worked assiduously as a clerk, rapidly 
rising in position at the bank, quickly attaching to himself 
a large circle of friends, and gradually securing amongst 
business men a character for industry, perseverance, sagacity, 
and courtesy. In 1836 he was engaged in the establishment 
of two of the local banks, and in August of that year he 
became manager of the Birmingham and Midland Bank. 



126 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Mr. Geach, in the days of his great prosperity, often referred 
with manly pride and becoming modesty to these early days. 
I remember some twenty years ago his coming down specially 
from the House of Commons one night to take the chair, at 
the Temperance Hall, at a meeting of the Provident Clerks' 
Association. In the course of his remarks that evening, he 
spoke of the mercantile clerks as a body for whom he should 
always feel sympathy ; a class to which he felt it to be an honour 
to have once belonged, and from which he himself had only 
so recently emerged. He mentioned then, that " when he first 
came to Birmingham some twenty-five years before, he did 
not know a soul in the place which had since elected him to 
be its Mayor, and in which he had, by industry and prudence, 
gained the esteem of so many friends, and achieved a position 
very far beyond his expectations and his merits." Only a 
very few weeks before his death, he made some observations 
of a similar character, at the annual dinner given by the 
Midland Bank Directors. Indeed, it wab his frequent habit to 
point out to young men that, by the practice of habits of in- 
dustry, prudence, diligence, and observation, success such as 
his — in kind, if not in degree — was open to them. 

Soon after Mr. Geach came to live in Birmingham, he took 
apartments at Handsworth. An attachment soon sprung up 
between him and the daughter of a Mr. Skally, who kept a 
school at Villa Cross. After a short courtship, the young 
couple were married, Mr. Geach then being about 24 years 
of age. The house in which he wooed and won his wife is 
now an inn. It stands at the angle formed by the junction of 
the Heathfield Road and the Lozells Lane, and is known by 
the sign of the Villa Cross Tavern. 

When the Midland Bank was opened, Mr. Geach went to 
reside on the premises, and here he lived for about ten years. 
He removed, about 1846, to Wheel eys Hill, and from thence, 
a few years later, he went to reside at a large mansion at Chad 
Hill. For the last two or three years of his life he lived 
principally in London, occupying the house, No. 9, Park 
Street, Westminster. 

About the year 1 840, the Park Gate Iron Manufacturing 
Company was in active operation at Rotherham, near Sheffield. 
Most of the shares were held in Birmingham, and the directors, 
with one exception, were Birmingham men. They were Joshua 
Scholefield, Joseph Gibbins, -Henry Van Wart, Thomas Pern- 



CHARLES GEACH, M.P. 127 

berton, Samuel A. Goddard, and Samuel Evans, of Cradley. 
For a time the company was prosperous, but about 1842 came 
a revulsion, and iron rapidly fell in price from £10 to £5 per 
ton. The company became greatly embarrassed. Most of the 
directors became sick of the concern, and lost all interest in it. 
The business was neglected by all the directors except the two 
last named. At one period the company was in such straits 
that their bills would .have been dishonoured had not Mr. 
Goddard given his private cheque on the Bank of England for 
£3,000. At this period Mr. Geach was consulted, and after 
some negotiations he bought the whole concern for an old song. 
The nominal purchaser was Mr. Joshua Scholefield, but, some- 
how, Mr. Geach had secured for himself the largest share. 
The business was now carefully looked after, and began to 
recover itself. All at once came the "railway mania" of 1844 
and 1845, when all England went mad for a time. George 
Hudson, the linen draper of York, from whom I once took an 
order in his little shop near the Cathedral, was then the most 
notable man in the country. He soon became known as the 
" Railway King," and, as he was presumed to have the faculty 
of transforming everything into gold, he was feted, and almost 
worshipped by all classes of society. Under the excitement 
created by visions of untold wealth derived from making rail- 
ways, iron rapidly rose in price to double its recent value. 
Mr. Geach, at this time, I am able to state upon competent 
living authority, " took three orders for 30,000 tons of railroad 
iron, at £12, which did not cost over £6 per ton." This laid 
the foundation of Mr. Geach's marvellous success, and from 
this period he commenced t@ identify himself with large enter- 
prises, until at length he was associated with some of the most 
important mercantile transactions of the period. 

About this time there was living at Wednesbury an eccentric 
Independent Minister named Hardy. He is still remembered 
there for his extraordinary fancy for preaching about the " seven 
golden candlesticks." When he took this topic for a sermon, his 
hearers knew that for six or seven Sundays at least he would 
speak of nothing else. And, lest his hearers should not be duly 
impressed with the subject, his practice was never to go more 
than a year or two without going over the whole ground anew. 
This worthy minister was somewhat of a mechanic, and in 
connection with a coach-axle maker named Hollason, the plan 
was conceived of "faggoting" bars of iron radially round a 



128 PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

centre-bar, so that the laminas of the iron should range like the 
concentric rings in a tree. The chief difficulty was the necessity 
of rolling the axles before they conld be hammered. Mr. Dodd, 
of the Horseley Works, showed how this conld be done by a 
reversing action, and Mr. Hardy patented both processes. 
Mr. H. Wright, who was afterwards a partner in the works, 
tells me that he assisted to draw np the specifications. Money 
being wanted to work the concern, a , small private company 
was formed with a capital of £2,000. Mr. Hardy was manager, 
and Mr. T. Walker was clerk. This company was carried on 
for about two years, when, becoming involved, and none of the 
partners caring to invest more money in it, application was 
made to Mr. Geach. This was in 1838. 

Mr. Geach, perceiving the superiority of Hardy's method 
over any other, induced some twelve or more gentlemen to join 
in the purchase of the works and patents, Mr. Wright and 
Mr. Hardy being of the number. The new company assumed 
the name of the " Patent Shaft and Ixletree Company." 
Mr. Wright was appointed general manager ; Mr. Hardy super- 
intended the forge ; and Mr. Walker assisted generally. Mr. 
Hardy withdrew about 1840, when Mr. Walker took the man- 
agement of the forge. In 1841, Mr. Wright removed to Rother- 
ham, to manage the Park Gate Works, and Mr. Walker became 
sole manager of the Shaft and Axletree business. In 1844, 
Mr. Geach bought out all the partners — Mr. Wright being 
the last — and so became the sole proprietor. Up to this time 
there had been no financial success, and no dividends had been 
paid. About this time the sudden rise in prices, consequent 
upon the railway enterprise of the period and the enormous 
demand for the manufactures of the works, turned the fortunes 
of the concern, which then commenced its career of marvellous 
success. It soon became one of the most important concerns 
in Staffordshire. It was carried on by Mr. Geach, as sole 
proprietor, until his death, when Mr. Walker purchased it. It 
was soon afterwards converted into a limited liability company, 
and it is now, under the chairmanship of Mr. Walker, who 
has been so long connected with it, one of the best conducted 
and most prosperous concerns in the district. The present 
number of people employed in the establishment is about six 
thousands. 

In addition to these two important concerns, Mr. Geach was 
a partner in a large manufactory near Dudley. He was exten- 



CHARLES GEACH, M.P. 129 

sively engaged as a contractor for several railway companies. 
He was an active promoter and director of the Manchester, 
Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, and of the Shrewsbury and 
Birmingham Railways. He was also one of the concessionnaires 
of the Western Railway of France; and to his wonderful 
administrative ability and power of organisation the success 
of that company is mainly due. 

Although so closely connected with the railway interest, 
and although, as a proprietor in most of the leading railway 
companies, he was constantly called upon to attend meetings, 
his great energies found other spheres of action. He was a 
promoter, and one of the most active directors, of the Crystal 
Palace Company, at Sydenham; and he was a director of the 
Great Eastern Steam-ship Company. 

Busy as his commercial life was, he found time to devote to 
duties of a more public character. In 1843 or 1844 he was 
elected one of the Aldermen of Birmingham. Here he was 
very active and useful. Up to his time, the finances of the 
Borough had been managed with little skill or system. His 
great financial knowledge, and his clear vision of the right 
and the wrong, in public book-keeping, enabled him to suggest, 
and to carry into operation, great improvements in the manage- 
ment of the Corporation accounts. In 1847 he was Mayor, 
and in that office won the goodwill of everyone by his suavity 
of manner and his untiring industry. Two or three years 
afterwards, the pressure of other duties compelled him to retire 
from municipal office. 

It is needless to tell Birmingham men that in politics Mr. 
Geach was a Liberal. His public political life commenced at 
the time of the agitation for the repeal of the Corn Laws. 
During that exciting period he was the guiding spirit of the 
local Association, and transacted the whole of the business with 
the central body at Manchester. He was activein promoting the 
elections of his friends, Joshua and William Scholefield, with 
both of whom he was on terms of intimate friendship. His 
political creed was very wide and eminently practical. He 
had no abstract theories to which everything must bend. 
His eye saw at a glance the right thing to do, and he set to 
work energetically to do it, or to get it done. 

In the year 1851 there was a vacancy in the representation 
of the city of Coventry, and Mr. Geach was solicited to stand 
as a candidate. I saw him on the platform of the old railway 



130 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

station, in Duddeston Row, on his way to the nomination. He 
was very reliant, and spoke of the certainty he felt that he 
should be successful. There was, however, no excitement, and 
no undue elevation at the prospect of the crowning honour of 
his life being so near his grasp. He was opposed by Mr. 
Hubbard, the eminent London financier, and by Mr. Strutt, 
who was afterwards created Lord Belper ; but he was returned 
by a considerable majority, and at a subsequent election he was 
unopposed. He held the seat until his death. 

In a very short time after his election, he began to take 
part in the debates. He was not a fluent speaker ; indeed he 
was hesitating, and sometimes his sentences were much involved; 
but, as he never spoke except upon topics with which he 
was perfectly familiar, he was listened to with the respect 
and attention which are always, in the House of Commons, 
accorded to those who have " something to say." Upon 
financial topics he soon was looked upon as an authority, and 
there were many who looked upon him as a possible future 
Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

Soon after his return to Parliament he became the host of 
the illustrious Hungarian patriot, Louis Kossuth. It was in 
Mr. Geach's carriage that the great exile rode triumphantly 
through the crowded streets of Birmingham, amid the plaudits 
of the entire population. Few who saw it can forget how 
Geach's face was lighted up with smiles of delight, as he sat 
beside Kossuth in his progress, with George Dawson on the 
box. Kossuth, albeit not unused to the applause and ovations 
of his grateful countrymen, said that he had never before 
received himself, or seen in the case of others, so magnificent 
and enthusiastic a reception. 

In person, Mr. Geach was tall, and stoutly built. His- 
height was, probably, two or three inches beyond six feet. 
He had a bright, clear, fair complexion, and an ample brow. 
His face would have been strikingly handsome but for an 
undue preponderance of the under jaw, which gave the lower 
part of the face too massive an appearance. He had singularly 
agreeable manners. His grasp of the hand was firm and 
cordial. He was entirely free from the " airs " which some self- 
made men put on. In his appearance there was evidence of 
power and influence that rendered any assumption super- 
fluous. He was always ready to listen, and to give his friends 
the benefit of his large knowledge and experience. He was 



CHARLES GEACH, M.P. 131 

very generous, even to those who had in early life crossed 
his path. Only the other day I was told that one of his 
greatest opponents having died in straitened circumstances, 
Geach took charge of his sons, and placed them in positions to 
raise themselves to opulence. In private life he Avas greatly 
beloved. A lady, who had ample opportunities of forming a 
correct judgment, tells me that " as a husband and father his 
excellence could not be exceeded ; and altogether he was the 
very best man I have ever known." 

Soon after his retirement from the management of the 
Midland Bank, the shareholders and directors, to mark their 
sense of his services, and .their esteem for him as a man, voted 
him a magnificent service of plate. A fine full-length portrait 
was about the same time placed in the board room of the 
bank. The painting is by Partridge, and is a very excellent 
characteristic likeness of Mr. Geach in the prime of his life. 

In the autumn of 1854 he was somewhat enfeebled by the 
pressure of Parliamentary and commercial duties, and took a 
trip to Scotland to recruit his strength. Soon after his return 
to London, he was seized with an internal disorder, which 
reduced his strength very much. He was recovering from this 
attack, when a return of an old affection of one of his legs took 
place. From this time his ultimate recovery seemed doubtful. 
It was at one time contemplated to amputate the left foot, bat 
in his prostrate condition this was considered unsafe and hope- 
less. He gradually became weaker, and on Wednesday, 
November 1st, 1854, he died, in his 46th year. He left 
a widow and four children to mourn his loss, and a larger 
circle than most men possess, of warmly-attached friends to 
honour and respect his memory. 



132 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 



WILLIAM SANDS COX, F.R.S., &o. 



"D ATHBR more than thirty years ago, I was very desirous to 
-*-*' obtain an influential introduction to Dr. Jephson. I men- 
tioned my wish to an old friend in Birmingham, who undertook 
to obtain one for me, and in a few days told me that if I called 
upon Mr. Sands Cox, at his house in Temple Row, some 
morning early, that gentleman would give me a letter intro- 
ducing me to the great Leamington physician. I accordingly 
presented myself as directed, and was shown, by a somewhat 
seedy-looking old woman — who evidently looked upon me with 
considerable suspicion — into a small room in the front of the 
house, where, seated at a writing-table, I found the subject of 
this sketch. 

I had expected to see a man of commanding appearance, 
with some outward indication of mental power, and with the 
intelligent brightness of 'eye and face which generally dis- 
tinguishes men of the consummate skill and extensive knowledge 
which I was told he possessed. I was, however, greatly 
surprised to see only a heavy-looking, middle-aged, rather 
bulky man, with a miser-like expression of face. There was 
no fire in the room, and, for a cold morning, he seemed to be 
rather thinly clad, his only attire being a pair of trousers, 
without braces, and a night-shirt. The wearer had evidently 
hurried from his bed-room to his study, without the customary 
ablutions, and his tangled hair and scrubby beard were inno- 
cent of comb and razor. On being invited to be seated, I 
with some difficulty found a chair, for almost every square foot 
of surface in the place — floor, chairs, tables, shelves, and every 
other "coign of vantage" — was piled. up with books, reports, 
law papers, printers' proofs, and other literary matter, begrimed 
with dust, and apparently in the most hopeless condition of 
muddle. On the table itself was the opened correspondence 



WILLIAM SANDS COX, F.R.S. 133 

of the day, and although it was very early morning, a separated 
portion, consisting of fifteen or twenty documents, aud an 
equal number of letters already written, folded, and neatly 
■4idressed, showed that he had been early at work; whilst a 
ar ;ge quantity of manuscript, thrown, sheet upon sheet, upon 
u*.. .!/ floor, and the stump of a candle, that had burnt very low 
in a very dirty candlestick, proved conclusively that he had 
been hard at work until late on the previous night. 

He received me with courteous politeness, read my note, 
and said how happy he should be to comply with the request 
it contained ; " but," said he, " you must excuse me now. I 
have to finish my correspondence, get my breakfast, and make 
myself a little more presentable. Will you call again in an 
hour?" 

Of course I was punctual. I found him completely meta- 
morphosed, and he now — in a soberly- cut coat of black, a 
brilliant black satin waistcoat, and white necktie — looked, as 
he always did in this dress, like a well-to-do English country 
clergyman. He was quite ready for me ; handed me a very 
cordial recommendation to Dr. Jephson ; and asked if he might 
trouble me with a small parcel for the doctor. I found after- 
wards that, in order to secure attention from a man whose 
time was so fully occupied, he had entrusted me with a 
presentation copy of a work he had just published, on " The 
Amputation of a Leg at the Hip Joint," an operation which 
he had recently, I believe for the first time in English surgery, 
successfully performed. 

Such was my introduction to William Sands Cox, and such 
the commencement of an acquaintance which resulted in 
intimacy of many years' duration, in the course of which I had 
frequent opportunities of studying his character, and becoming 
acquainted with his many peculiarities. 

The family to which he belonged was one of the oldest in 
Warwickshire. His ancestors for many generations resided 
in the neighbourhood of Stratford-on-Avon. His father, the 
late Edward Townsend Cox, came to Birmingham in the 
latter part of the eighteenth century. He was articled to 
Mr. Kennedy of Steelhouse Lane — father of Rann Kennedy. 
He afterwards practised, with great success, as a surgeon, for 
more than half a century, dying at a very advanced age, only a 
very few years ago. His quaint figure, as he drove about the 
town in an antiquated phaeton, drawn by a patriarchal pony, 



134 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

must be familiar to the memory of all but the most juvenile 
readers. 

William Sands Cox was born in 1802, in the house now 
occupied as offices by Mr. Barrows, No. 38, Cannon Stree 
Being intended by his father for the medical profession, he r 
a most liberal education ; and, after passing a few years as 
assistant to his father, he was sent (a most unusual course at 
that time) to complete his studies at the very best medical 
schools in London and on the continent. 

Upon his return to Birmingham, his foreign experiences 
enabled him to see that the greater number of country prac- 
titioners of that time were sadly deficient in medical and 
surgical knowledge ; were lamentably ignorant of anatomy, 
pathology, and general science ; and were greatly wanting in 
general culture. With rare self-denial he, instead of acquiring, 
as he easily might, a lucrative private practice, resolved to 
devote his life to the elevation of the character, and to the 
more regular and scientific education and instruction, of the 
future members of the profession to which he belonged. 

With this view, he started a modest medical and surgical 
class-room in Snow Hill. He soon collected a number of pupils, 
and, in order to secure greater accommodation, he, about the 
year 1830, removed to an old chapel in Paradise Street, This, 
having been properly fitted up, was named the "School of 
Medicine," and it soon became a recognised institution. Being 
enriched from time to time by collections of medical and 
surgical preparations and appliances, it gradually grew in size 
and importance, and, being generously and very largely 
endowed by many benevolent persons, was eventually incor- 
porated by Royal Charter as the " Queen's College." From 
this time the indefatigable founder determined that it should 
be worthy of the illustrious name it bore. From his own 
resources ; by his father's assistance ; by the aid of many 
influential inhabitants of the town ; and by persistent appeals 
to the rich and benevolent of all ranks, money was rapidly 
accumulated. At length, with the princely and munificent 
assistance of Dr. Warneford, he had the satisfaction of seeing 
the noble buildings that adorn Paradise Street completed, and 
the kindred institution, the Queen's Hospital, in full and 
successful operation. 

There was something marvellous in the power he possessed 
of influencing others. He was by no means fluent of speech ; 



WILLIAM SANDS COX, F.E.S. 135 

his manners were shy, awkward, and retiring. He had little 
grace of person or ease in conversation, yet he somehow was 
more successful than most men of his time in winning friends, 
and obtaining aid for the great work he had set himself to 
accomplish. Probably his indomitable perseverance lay at the 
root of the secret. How he influenced the good Dr. Warneford 
has long been matter of record. From first to last, I believe I 
am within the mark when I mention £25,000 as the sum which 
he induced Dr. Warneford to bestow upon the two institutions. 
As I write, I have before me a letter written from the Doctor's 
house to a member of the College Council, of which the following 
is a transcript : 

" Bourton-on-the Hill, January 9th, 1852. 
" My dear Sir, — I had the pleasure of submitting our supplemental 
charter this morning to Dr. Warneford. I have the gratification to 
announce a donation of £10,000. 

" I remain, my dear Sir, yours faithfully, 

"William Sands Cox." 

The amount of labour Mr. Cox expended for the benefit 
of the Queen's Hospital was something beyond belief. 
Early and late he was busy for its advantage; thousands of 
autograph letters appealing for help fell from his pen. No 
chance of help was too remote for him to see ; no one too high 
in rank for him to appeal to ; no one so poor but could be asked 
to do something. It was he who brought Jenny Lind to 
sing gratuitously for its benefit. It was he who induced 
managers of theatres, music halls, and other places of amuse- 
ment, to set apart certain nights as " Queen's Hospital Nights." 
It was he who obtained Her Majesty's patronage and support; 
and " last, but not least," it was he who organised the annual 
ball at the Town Hall, which for fifteen or twenty years was 
the most fashionable and delightful re-union in Birmingham, 
and which brought in a very large annual profit to the funds 
of the hospital. His appeals to noblemen and gentlemen to 
become stewards at these balls were literally strewed broadcast 
through the land. Amongst others, he was bold enough once 
to ask the great Duke of Wellington ; and he used to show, 
with some pride, the letter he received in reply, which was 
written in the Duke's most characteristic manner. The 
original, I believe, still hangs, framed, in the Secretary's room 
at the hospital ; and as I think it likely to be interesting, as a 



136 PEESONAL KECOLLECTIONS. 

specimen of the Duke's epistolary powers and peculiarities, I 
append a copy : 

" Strathfield Saye, Dec. 11, 1842. 

" F. M. the Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Mr. 
Cox and regrets much that his time is so much occupied that it is 
impossible for him to be able to nnd leisure to attend to the duties 
of the office of a Steward of a Ball. He hopes, therefore that he will 
be excused for declining to be nominated to fill an office the duties of 
which he cannot undertake to perform. 

"W. Sands Cox, Eqre." 

The last time I saw Mr. Cox, in connection with these insti- 
tutions, was in 1862, at the time of the great bazaar on behalf of 
the hospital. It was a hard week's work for many, and it 
resulted in a profit of about £3,500. Mr. Cox's homely figure 
during that week, was " here, there, and everywhere," 
encouraging everybody, and assisting in every way, even to 
helping the college porter to carry large and heavy hampers of 
goods across the street from the college to the Town Hall. 
I have a perfect remembrance of his sitting, on the last day of 
the bazaar, with another gentleman, in the ticket office, to 
receive the sixpenny fees for admission. I recollect then to 
have seen again the strange, miserly expression which had 
struck me at my first introduction ; and I noticed, too, the 
eager " clutch," with which he grasped the money as it came 
in, and how he chuckled with delight as he made up into 
brown paper parcels each pound's worth of silver as it accumu- 
lated. How, too, his eyes twinkled ; how he rubbed his hands 
backwards and forwards over his mouth, as he jerked out 

" Another pound, Mr. ; I believe we shall get £50 ;" and 

how, when the doors were closed, he triumphantly handed 
over to the treasurer more than sixty packets, of £1 each, as 
the result of the sixpences paid for admission on that one day. 

Unfortunately, his mind was creative only. Like many 
parents, who never can be brought to understand that there 
comes a time when their children are mentally capable of 
" running alone," he, in his later years, failed to see that these 
two institutions, the children of his brain, no longer required 
leading strings, or his unaided nursing. Hence, as the estab- 
lishments grew beyond his personal power of supervision, he 
became jealous of everyone connected with their management, 
and sought still to be sole director. As the founder, his will 
was to be absolute law ; everybody must consult his wishes. 



WILLIAM SANDS COX, F.R.S. 137 

and bow to his decision ; and although he had, with advancing 
years, become less capable, and had always been wanting in 
the sustaining power which successfully carries on great work, 
he insisted upon regulating every matter of detail and discipline 
connected with the two institutions. 

The result was inevitable. Difficulty after difficulty arose. 
A painful disease at this time attacked him, making him more 
irritable and exacting. Professors and other officers of the 
college retired one after the other. Friends fell off. Sub- 
scriptions were dropped. Pupils were withdrawn, and complete 
anarchy prevailed. At length Chancery was appealed to, and 
Mr. Cox, having been defeated, retired, somewhat sulkily and 
disdainfully, from the town — disappointed, dejected, dispirited, 
and with a feeling which embittered the remaining years of 
his life — a feeling that he had been very greatly misunderstood, 
and most ungratefully treated. 

Sands Cox, in private life, was gentleness and simplicity 
itself. At a dinner party, while ladies were present, he was 
very quiet ; but the merry twinkle of his eye when the conver- 
sation became animated, showed that he was keenly alive to all 
that was going on. After the ladies had retired, he generally 
joined in the conversation, and had, almost always, some 
quaintly curious story, which, told, as it always was, in a shy 
way, as a schoolboy might tell it, was irresistibly droll. 

He had few amusements. He was fond of a quiet rubber ; 
kept a tame monkey, whose grotesque antics were to him a 
perpetual source of gratification ; and he was very fond of 
fishing. With the fly rod he was very skilful, and he would 
occasionally steal a few days' holiday to indulge in trout or 
salmon fishing. He did not disdain, however, the far humbler 
sport that lay within an easy reach of Birmingham, and I 
occasionally went with him to a favourite spot for perch 
fishing. On one occasion, by an accident, he lost his bagful 
of baits, and had to use some of mine. Finding it inconvenient 
to come to me every time he wanted to bait his hook afresh, he 
took half the worms from my bag, which he crammed — all slimy 
and crawling as they were — into the pocket of a nearly new 
satin waistcoat. At another time, just as he was about to put 
on a fresh bait, his line became entangled in a bush, so as to 
require both hands to disengage it. Without the slightest 
hesitation he put the worm into his mouth to hold it while his 
hands were engaged with the line, and he seemed greatly to 



138 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

enjoy the laughter which his queer proceeding forced from 
those who were present. 

In the course of his professional career, many honours were 
bestowed upon him. He was made a Fellow of the Royal 
Society ; was elected a member of the French Institute ; and was 
honorary member of nearly every important surgical school in 
Europe. He was also created magistrate and Deputy- Lieutenant 
for the County of Warwick. He had, though few knew it, 
considerable influence in quarters where his name might hardly 
be expected to be known. He was generally consulted as to 
the fitness of local gentlemen proposed for magisterial honours ; 
and as none of the parties are now alive, I may state that 
some days before the Queen's visit to Birmingham, in 1858, it 
was to Mr. Cox that application was made for information 
respecting the then Mayor, upon whom there was some hesita- 
tion as to whether the honour of knighthood should be con- 
ferred. Mr. Cox suggested, in reply, that the honour, although 
of course nominally given to the Mayor, would really be 
granted as a compliment to the town, which had chosen him 
as the chief magistrate. Acting on thjg suggestion, the 
Government of the day, as is well known, decided on the 
honour being bestowed. 

I have alluded to some indications of a miserly disposition 
in Mr. Cox. These were, at the time, a psychological puzzle 
to my mind ; but I have learned since that a man may have 
strong acquisitive instincts, and yet be without selfishness ; that 
he may be even greedy to acquire, and yet deny himself in 
almost every possible way, in order to benefit others ; and 
that the faculties of benevolence and conscientiousness will, 
in many cases, direct into unselfish channels the riches which 
have been accumulated by the mere animal instinct of selfish 
acquisitiveness. 

Such is a faithful and honest attempt to exhibit something 
of the character, habits, and manners of one of Birmingham's 
most worthy sons ; a man who, whatever his faults and 
failings, did much to elevate the noble profession to which he 
belonged, and thereby to alleviate the sufferings of thousands 
of his fellow creatures, not only of his own time, but for 
generations to come. To him, unquestionably, we owe the 
existence of two of our noblest institutions — the Queen's 
College and Hospital ; and yet, strange to say, the town 
possesses no memorial of him. Others, who have done com- 



WILLIAM SANDS COX, F.R.S. 139 

paratively little for the place, have their portraits in the Cor- 
poration Gallery ; yet Sands Cox is unrepresented. Surely the 
time has arrived when this should be remedied ; surely, now 
that the grave has closed over his remains, the irritation and 
ill-feeling created by his somewhat imperious will and dogmatic 
manner, should be forgiven and forgotten, and only his self- 
denying devotion to the good of his native town should ■ be 
remembered. Surely it is not too late to see that some fitting 
memorial of the man, and his work, should show to posterity 
that his contemporaries, and their immediate successors, were 
not unmindful of, nor ungrateful for, the great and noble work 
he was privileged to accomplish. 



140 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 



GEORGE EDMONDS. 



TN the early part of the present century, a house, which is still 
-*- standing, in Kenion Street, was occupied by a Dissenting 
Minister, who had two sons. One of these sons, fifty years 
afterwards, told the following story: 

"When I was a boy, I was going one evening up Constitution Hill. 
On the left-hand side, at that time, there was a raised footpath, protected 
by railings, similar to the one which now exists at Hockley Hill. I was 
on the elevated part, and heard some one running behind me. Upon 
turning, I found a soldier, out of breath, and so exhausted that he sank 
to the ground at my feet. He implored me not to give information, and 
asked me for protection, telling me that he had been sentenced, for some 
neglect of duty, to receive a large number of lashes, at certain intervals, 
of which he had already been indulged with one instalment. Having 
been thought incapable of moving, he had not been very closely watched, 
and he had just escaped from the barracks, having run all the way to 
the spot on which he had fallen. I took him home, and told my father, 
who was greatly alarmed ; but he fed him, and sent him to bed. The 
next morning I dressed myself in the soldier's clothes, and danced 
before my father, as he lay in bed. He was angry and alarmed, particu- 
larly as, on looking out of the window, we saw a non-commissioned 
officer of the same regiment standing opposite, apparently watching the 
house. Nothing came of that ; but the difficulty was, what to do 
with the man. At night, however, we dressed him in some of my 
clothes, and sent him off to Liverpool. He promised to write, but we 
never heard any more of him. His clothes were tied up in two bundles ; 
ray brother James took one, and I the other, and we walked with my 
father to Hockley Pool, where we loaded the bundles with bricks, and 
threw them into a deep part of the water." 

The narrator of this story, and the chief actor in the simple 
drama w r as George Edmonds. I mention this little event because 
it shows that the spirit of hostility to tyranny, and the scorn 
of oppression, cruelty, and persecution, which he manifested 
in his after life, were inborn, and a part of his nature. The 
same noble spirit which induced him, like the good Samaritan, 
to bind up the wounds, and to succour and defend the friendless 






fjM 






0l44^O^0Lf. 



GEORGE EDMONDS. 141 

soldier, gave his tongue the eloquence, and his soul the fire, to 
denounce, m, the presence of assembled thousands, the mal- 
practices of those then in power, and the injustice of the laws 
under which the people groaned. 

I h <rge Edmonds was born in the year 1788, at the house 
in Kenion Street of which I have spoken. His father was the 
Minister of the Baptist Chapel in Bond Street. He was 
very popular as a preacher, and he appears to have been a 
man of much culture. An engraved portrait of him may 
be seen in the window of Mr. Massey's shop at the top of 
Mount Street. He was possessed of considerable humour, 
and was almost as celebrated as the great Rowland Hill for 
making droll remarks in the pulpit. It is told of him that, 
reading the fourth chapter of Philippians, and coming to the 
thirteenth verse, he read, " I can do all things ; " here he 
paused, and said, " What, Paul ? — do all things ? I'll bet 
you half-a-crown of it ;" then, suiting the action to the 
word, he placed the coin on the leaf of the book; but on 
reading the concluding portion of the verse, he said, " Oh, 
that alters it ! I withdraw the bet," and then went on with 
his reading. 

Under his father's care, George Edmonds received a really 
good education, and became an excellent classical scholar. His 
knowledge of Greek was extensive and profound. He was 
not apprenticed or articled to any business or profession, and 
he appears to have devoted his early manhood entirely to 
study. His favourite pursuit was the science of language, and 
in this branch of learning he became probably one of the best- 
informed men of his day. He was in constant correspond- 
ence with the most eminent and learned philologians of his 
time. I shall have occasion, further on, to mention this topic 
again. 

In the year 1823, I find that he was keeping a school in 
Bond Street, near the chapel; his pupils, no doubt, being 
mainly the sons of the members of the congregation. This 
life appears to have been, to him, somewhat of a drudgery, 
and he longed for more active duties, and a larger sphere 
of work. At that time the strict etiquette which now 
governs all legal matters did not exist. The young school- 
master having volunteered on one occasion to assist a friend to 
conduct a case in the old " Court of Requests," found the 
self-imposed task very much to his taste. He took up the 



142 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

profession of an Advocate, and in that court and the magis- 
trates' room at the Public Office he soon became a busy man. 
His clear insight gave him the power of instantly possessing 
himself of the merits of a case, while his fluency of speech, his 
persuasive manner, and his scholastic acquirements were great 
advantages. He soon obtained considerable influence among 
the respectable old gentlemen who at that time sat as judges in. 
the one court and magistrates in the other. His intense love 
of fun, and his powerful irony, made these courts, instead of 
dull and dreary places, lively and cheerful. Many droll storiss 
are told of him, one of the best of which relates to his cross- 
examination of a pompous witness. Edmonds began by asking, 
" What are you, Mr. Jones ? " " Hi har a skulemaster," was 
the reply. In an instant came the crushing retort from 
Edmonds, " Ho, you ham, his you ? " He continued to prac- 
tise in the Court of Requests until it was abolished, but he was 
ineligible in the newly-established County Court, not being an 
attorney. He then articled himself to Mr. Edwin Wright, and 
in the year 1847 was admitted as a solicitor, which profes- 
sion he followed actively, up to the time of the illness which 
removed him from public life. 

He was a powerful and successful advocate. His fault, 
however, in this capacity was that he identified himself too much 
with his case. He seemed always determined to win. True 
justice and fairness were not considered, so long as he could 
gain the day. Hence, when another advocate was opposed to 
him, the matter assumed, generally, the aspect of a professional 
tournament, in which victory was to be gained, rather than 
that of a calm and impartial investigation, in which the truth 
was to be ascertained and a just award made. 

At the time of the incorporation of the town in 1838, and 
the establishment of Quarter Sessions, Mr. Edmonds was 
appointed Clerk of the Peace. He was then seriously ill, 
and was supposed to be dying. It was understood at the time, 
that the appointment was made as a solace to him in his then 
condition, and as a recognition, which would be pleasant to 
him, of the services he had rendered to his native town. It 
was not expected that he would survive to undertake the duties 
of the office. He, however, lived to perform them for more 
than thirty years. He himself had so little expectation of 
recovery that, from what he supposed to be his dying bed, he 
wrote to Mr. William Morgan, urging him to announce him- 



GEORGE EDMONDS. 143 

self- as a candidate for the office, so soon, in all probability, 
to become vacant. Mr. Morgan refrained from so doing, 
and Mr. Edmonds nominated him his deputy. In that 
capacity Mr. Morgan acted at the first Sessions held in the 
town. 

As years rolled on, Mr. Edmonds became at times very 
absent in mind, causing occasionally great merriment in court 
by the ludicrous mistakes he made. When the Sessions-room 
was altered a few years ago, the jury box was placed on the 
opposite side of the court to that it had formerly occupied, but 
Mr. Edmonds's mind never realised the change. While juries 
were considering their verdict, it was Mr. Edmonds's practice 
to engage in conversation with some of the barristers ; and he 
sometimes became so lost in these discussions as to take no 
heed of his duties. Mr. Hill, the Recorder, enjoyed these 
little scenes intensely. On one occasion, when the jury was 
waiting to deliver a verdict, the Recorder had to call him from 
one of these little chats, to receive it. Edmonds turned to the 
old spot, and seeing no one there, said, " There is no jury, sir." 
Upon which, Mr. Hill, smiling, said, " If you'll turn round, Mr. 
Edmonds, you'll see the jury laughing at you." In some con- 
fusion, Edmonds turned round, and, his mind being somewhat 
uncollected, he asked, " What say you, Mr. Foreman, are 
you guilty or not guilty ? " On another occasion he took up, 
by mistake, from his desk, an indictment against a man who 
had been tried and sentenced, and charging the prisoner, who 
was a female, read, " John Smith, you stand indicted," &c. 
The Recorder, jocularly rebuking him, said he had never 
known a woman named John Smith before. The woman was 
sent down, and Edmonds insisted in having the real John 
Smith up, and he again began the charge. The prisoner 
laughed in his face, and told him he had been tried once, and 
got ten years, but he wouldn't mind being tried again if the 
judge would make it five. 

But George Edmonds had a higher claim to grateful 
recollection than could be based upon mere forensic skill or 
professional duty. His it was to help to apply the first impulse 
to the movement which eventually broke down the strong 
bulwarks of territorial oligarchy. His it was to wear the 
political martyr's crown ; his to beard a profligate Court, and 
a despotic, tyrannical, and corrupt Government ; his to win, or 
to help to win, far nobler victories than were ever gained by 



144 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Marlborough or Wellington : victories of which we reap the 
benefits now, in liberty of thought and speech, in an un- 
fettered Press, in an incorrupt Parliament, in wiser laws, and 
in unshackled commerce. His manly voice, never counselled 
aught but obedience ; but ' it was never silent until it had 
assisted to ensure for his fellow-countrymen, that the laws he 
taught them to obey were just and impartial, and were equit- 
ably administered. 

When Mr. Edmonds was a mere child, the great Revolution 
in France gave the English advocates of freedom hopes that 
the " appointed time " would soon arrive. The obstinacy of 
the King, which had already caused the loss of America, once 
more made itself manifest, and crushed these hopes. War was 
declared against France in 1798, and (with the exception of a 
period of thirteen months, from March, 1802,. to April, 1803, 
and a few months in 1814-15) raged until the Battle of 
Waterloo, in June, 1815. During the whole of this long period 
the hopes of English freedom lay dormant. With the return 
of external peace came fresh visions of internal reformation. 
Major Cartwright, Sir Francis Burdett, and other advanced 
politicians formed themselves into a society, whicb, in memory 
of one of England's most worthy sons, they named the 
Hampden Club. They advocated annual Parliaments, 
universal suffrage, and vote by ballot. Provincial reformers 
adopted their creed. George Edmonds, then some 27 years 
old, took up the cause with great zeal, and advocated it with 
much eloquence and fervour. Cobbett, by his writings, and 
Hunt, by his speeches, aided the movement. The Tory party 
was alarmed, and Lord Liverpool's Government was so 
exasperated, that a crusade against the popular cause was 
resolved on. 

Meanwhile, the Hampden Club counselled their Birmingham 
friends to bring matters to an issue, by electing a " Legisla- 
torial Attorney," who was to proceed to the House of Commons, 
and formally demand to be admitted as the representative of 
Birmingham. The advice was taken, and on the 12th of Jaly, 
1819, a great meeting was held on Newhall Hill, for the purpose 
indicated. George Edmonds was the chairman and principal 
speaker, and was admittedly the local leader. 

The Government was not slow to take action. On the 30th 
of the same month, the Prince Regent issued a proclamation, 
warning all His Majesty's subjects against treasonable and 



GEOEGE EDMONDS. 145 

seditions meetings, and malpractices generally, and saying, 
inter alia — 

" And whereas, it hath been represented unto us, that at one of such 
meetings the persons there assembled, in gross violation of the law, did 
attempt to constitute and appoint, and did, as much as in them lay, 
constitute and appoint, a person then nominated, to sit in their name, 
and in their behalf, in the Commons House of Parliament ; and there 
is reason to believe that other meetings are about to be held for the 
like unlawful purpose. 

" And whereas, many wicked and seditious writiDgs have been 
printed, published, and industriously circulated, &c. 

" And whereas, we have been given to understand 

that in some parts of the kingdom, men, clandestinely and unlawfully 
assembled, have practised militarj r training and exercise. 

"And whereas, &c, we have resolved to repress the wicked, 
seditious, and treasonable practices, &c. "We do charge and command all 
sheriffs, magistrates, &c, to discover and bring to justice, all persons 
who have been or may be guilty of uttering seditious speeches or 
harangues, and all persons concerned in any riots or unlawful assemblies, 
which, on whatever pretext they may be grounded, are not only contrary 
to law, but dangerous to the most important interests of the kingdom," &c. 

At the time this Proclamation appeared, Edmonds was 
editing and publishing in Birmingham a weekly political paper, 
nnder the title of Edmonds's Weekly Recorder. Number 8 of 
this paper, dated August 7, 1819, lies before me. The Procla- 
mation is printed at full length on the front page, and the next 
column contains the opening sentences of a letter from Edmonds 
to the Prince Regent. This letter is of great length, and is 
written in a well-supported strain of splendid irony all through. 
To copy it at length would occupy too much space. I may, 
however, be allowed to quote a short extract or two. Speaking 
of the meeting on the 12th July, of which he acknowledges 
himself to have been the chairman, he says : "I, and may it 
please yon, sir, being a very loyal man, was very careful, 
although it was quite unnecessary, to admonish the people to 
obey the laws ; and I can assure yon, sir, that I have not heard 
of a single instance of disloyalty, or violation of the laws, which 
occurred during the said meeting. And while we are upon 
the subject, permit me, sir, to lament that your Royal Highness 
did not in your Royal Proclamation lay down the law which had 
been violated by the people of Birmingham." " Finding, how- 
ever, contrary to our expectations, that your Royal Highness 
considers that we have acted unlawfully, we must humbly 
petition that the precise laiu we have violated may be pointed 



146 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

out, that we may not, through ignorance, be led to do wrong 
again. Some persons have supposed the Proclamation to be 
laiv, but I have said to them, ' A Proclamation is a Proclamation, 
and not the laiv of Parliament' In the same manner as your 
Highness profoundly speaks, in your Royal Proclamation, of 
those ' unlawful assemblies ' which are ' contrary to law/ 
Truisms, an please your Royal Highness, are much better than 
falsehoods." 

The number of tbe Weekly Recorder for August 14th, 1819, 
contains a long address to his " Fellow-townsmen," signed by 
George Edmonds. It commences by stating that " the last 
week has been a very important one in the annals of Warwick- 
shire, and indeed of England. . . . Five of us, Major 
Cartwright, Mr. Wooler, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Mad docks, and 
myself, have had true bills found against us for a con- 
spiracy to elect a Member of Parliament, and at the next 
Assizes the indictment will be tried." 

The grand jury brought in the "true bill" on Monday, 
August 9th. The trial did not take place at the Assizes then 
beinc held, and the indictment was afterwards removed by 
certiorari into the Court of King's Bench. It came on for trial 
at Warwick, on August 7th, 1820, before the Lord Chief Baron 
Richards. When the special jury was called, only four 
answered to their names. Mr. Barber was the foreman, and 
on taking the book into his hands, one of the defendants asked 
him whether he had " ever expressed any opinion as to the 
merits or demerits of this case." The Judge interfered, and 
said that " as a special juryman he was not bound to answer 
the question." Eight names were then added from the common 
jury list, and the trial proceeded. Denman was counsel for 
Edmonds, and Matthew Davenport Hill for Major Cartwright. 
The others defended themselves in person. The Judge summed 
up unfavourably, and after twenty minutes' deliberation the 
jury gave a verdict of guilty against all the defendants. Judg- 
ment, however, was deferred. 

On May 28, 1821, the Attorney- General moved the judg- 
ment of the court. The Lord Chief Justice Abbott, afterwards 
Lord Tenterden, recapitulated the arguments as to the legality 
of the jury, and held that no legal challenge could have been 
made until a full jury appeared; and as in this case the 
challenges had been made before the full jury had assembled, 
there were no grounds for a new trial. Several motions in 



GEORGE EBMOXDS. 



arrest of judgment were subsequently made, but event 
Mr. Edmonds was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonr 
in the common gaol of the county, and he was thereuj. 
removed to Warwick, where, within the walls of the gaol, 1 
spent every minute of the period for which he had been 
sentenced. 

Upon his restoration to liberty, he published the following 
characteristic advertisement in the Birmingham newspapers : 

" George Edmonds begs to inform his friends, his enemies, and the 
public, that on leaving Warwick Jail he recommenced his profession 
of a schoolmaster ; that by the zeal of his patrons he has succeeded 
beyond his most sanguine expectations ; that he has taken for a period 
of seven years those extensive premises opposite Bond Street Chapel, 
and that the school re-opened on Monday last. 

"The public are respectfully referred by G. E. to his enemies as 
the judges of his capacity to instruct and correct. ... To his 
enemies — if it be possible that he can have any — G. E. offers the most 
entire absolution for their sins against the best of men, on the follow- 
ing most reasonable terms : That they henceforth zealously trumpet 
forth his merits ; and on his part he agrees to receive their children 
at his academy, as hostages for the performance of these conditions. 
Quid rides? 

"Bond Street, July 2, 1823." 

Mr. Edmonds's trial, so far from impeding the popular cause, 
gave it a forward impetus. It was contended that the jury 
had been improperly impanelled ; and Mr. Peel, afterwards Sir 
Robert, was compelled to admit in the House of Commons that 
such was the case, as the panel did not contain the proper 
number of names. The great Jeremy Bentham took up the 
case, and published a pamphlet impugning the legality of the 
whole proceedings, and exposing the utter sham of the special 
jury system. Peel, much to his honour, brought into the 
House, and carried, a bill to amend the whole jury system, and 
thus Edmonds's trial led to the abolition of a great public 
scandal and a national grievance. 

Henceforward, Edmonds was the recognised leader of the 
Birmingham Radicals, and the agitation for Parliamentary 
Reform commenced anew. The Whigs, though favourable, 
held aloof, looking upon it as a hopeless case. In the year 
1827, Mr. Charles Tennyson, afterwards known as Mr. Tenny- 
son D'Eyncourt, proposed to the House of Commons that the 
two seats forfeited by the disfranchised borough of East Ret- 
ford should be transferred to Birmingham. The proposition 



PEESONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 

supported by Sir James Mackintosh and others, but was 
itually negatived. The mere proposition, however, revived 
j dying embers of Birmingham political life. All classes, 
rid all sections of politicians, hailed the proposal with delight. 
Tories, Whigs, and Radicals united in a requisition to Mr. 
George Attwood, who was then High Bailiff, to hold a town's 
meeting, which was held accordingly on June 25th, 1827, at 
Beardsworth's Repository. At this meeting, resolutions in 
favour of Mr. Tennyson's proposition were proposed and 
seconded by gentlemen belonging to the three parties, Tories, 
Whigs, and Radicals. A committee, thirty- two in number, com- 
posed of men of all shades of opinion, was appointed to work 
in support of the enfranchisement of the town. Edmonds's name 
was left out for strategic reasons : a convicted conspirator, it 
was thought, would do the cause no good. He, however, 
endorsed the scheme heartily, worked energetically, and spoke 
frequently and eloquently in its favour. 

The proposition, as I have said, was negatived by the House 
of Commons, but it had borne good fruit in Birmingham. 
Henceforth the timid Whigs came once more into the sunlight 
of political life ; and the Tories, being divided in opinion on the 
measure, split into two sections, with the result that the ultra 
party, which had monopolised all municipal power, was broken 
up. From this time united action became possible, and 
more reasonable relations were established between the active 
and the passive Liberals. The extreme Radical section, seeing 
that the men of moderate views had joined in the movement 
for the Reform of Parliament, became less extravagant in their 
demands. On the 14th of December, 1829, sixteen gentlemen, 
called together by circular, met at the Royal Hotel, and 
founded the great Political Union. Rules having been pre- 
pared, it was proposed to hold a Town's Meeting, under the 
presidency of the High Bailiff — Mr. William Chance — to ratify 
them. That gentleman, on the proposal being made to him, 
stated that he could not view it as " any part of his duty to 
call a meeting of the inhabitants of the town for any such 
purpose." The meeting was, notwithstanding, held at Beards- 
worth's Repository, on the 25th January, 1830, Mr. G. F. 
Muntz being chairman. About 15,000 persons were present, 
and a number of resolutions, embodying the principles and 
objects of the new organisation, were proposed and carried ; 
some "unanimously," some with "one dissentient," and some 



GEOEGE EDMONDS. 149 

"by a majority of at least one thousand and one;" and the 
" General Political Union between the Lower and Middle 
Classes of the People," became an accomplished fact. 

From this time, for more than three years, nearly the whole 
of Mr. Edmonds's time was devoted to the cause he had 
so much at heart. Night after night, and month after month, 
he fanned the flame of popular feeling, until it culminated in 
the unparalleled meetings on Newhall Hill. At the one held 
on May 14th, 1832, there were nearly 200,000 persons present. 
Mr. Attwood- occupied the chair, and the proceedings com- 
menced by the vast assembly singing a hymn composed for 
the occasion by the Rev. Hugh Hutton, the two final verses of 
which were as follow : 

" God is our guide ! From field, from wave, 
The plough, the anvil, and the loom, 
We come, our country's rights to save, 

And speak a tyrant faction's doom. 
And hark ! we raise, from sea to sea, 
Our sacred watchword, Liberty ! 

" God is our guide ! No sword we draw, 

We kindle not war's fatal fires ; 
By union, justice, reason, law, 

We claim the birthright of our sires ! 
And thus we raise from sea to sea, 
Our sacred watchword, Liberty ! " 

At this meeting, what has been described as " one of the 
most solemn spectacles ever seen in the world " took place. 
After it had been determined to petition the House of Lords 
"not to drive to despair a high-minded, generous, and fear- 
less people," Mr. Clutton Salt took off his hat, and, calling 
upon the people to follow his example, the entire assembly 
stood uncovered as they repeated after him the Union vow : 
" In unbroken faith, through every peril and privation, we 
devote ourselves and our children to our country's cause." 
The sound of the thousands of voices in unison, as they 
uttered these words, has been described as resembling the 
sound of the waves of the sea on a rocky shore. 

Earl Grey, on the adverse vote of the House of Lords, had 
resigned on the 9th of May. The Duke of Wellington and 
Sir R/. Peel endeavoured to form a Government, but failed 
utterly; so that on the 18th, Earl Grey returned to power. "At 
the personal request of the King, a large number of the Tory 
peers consented to absent themselves from the House of Lords 



150 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

during the further discussion of the Reform Bill." " By the 
first week of August the bills had received the Royal assent, 
and the political excitement which had kept the country 
agitated for nearly two years was suddenly changed into com- 
plete listlessness and apathy." 

Meanwhile, the personal sacrifices which Mr. Edmonds had 
made, and the sufferings he had endured, were not unheeded 
by his friends. On April 25th, 1831, a meeting was held, 
under the presidency of Mr. John Betts, at which it was 
resolved to raise a subscription in his behalf, in recognition of 
" his superior talents, his tried integrity, and the persevering 
industry with which he has, for a long series of years, devoted 
himself to the great cause of public liberty, and more especially 
to the rights, privileges, and welfare of his fellow- townsmen." 
Mr. Thomas Attwood was appointed the treasurer, and a com- 
mittee of twenty of the leading Liberals of the town took 
charge of the movement, which resulted in a handsome sum 
being presented to Mr. Edmonds. 

Mr. Edmonds was not one to become politically listless and 
apathetic. He considered the passing of the Reform Bill to be 
only the stepping-stone to other beneficial measures. At his 
instigation it was resolved that the Political Union should 
not be dissolved, but should be "kept firmly united." On 
May 20th, 1833, another monster meeting was held on Newhall 
Hill, at which the Government was censured for passing the 
Irish Coercion Bill ; for refusing the right to vote by ballot ; 
for persevering in unjust and cruel Corn Laws ; and for 
continuing the House and Window Taxes. 

George Edmonds was one of the most active agitators for 
the grant of a Charter of Incorporation to the town. He was 
generally selected to be either proposer or seconder of the 
Reform candidates, at the elections. Few political meetings of 
any kind were held at which he was not only present, but 
took an active part ; and even when old age had bent his frame 
and weakened the tones of his once trumpet-like voice, he 
would occasionally make the walls of the Town Hall ring, as he 
denounced oppression, or called upon his fellow-townsmen to 
rise to vindicate a right. His spoken addresses were singularly 
clear and forcible in their construction. His language was 
very simple, and was nearly pure Saxon, and his enunciation 
of every syllable of each word distinct and perfect. He was a 
born politician, and a bold and fearless leader. He had a very 



GEORGE EDMONDS. 151 

genial disposition, and a charitable heart ; but was impul- 
sive, and was very strong in his resentments. He was what 
Dr. Johnson might call "a good hater." He combined the 
fierceness of the lion with the gentleness and docility of the 
lamb. 

Hitherto, I have spoken of Mr. Edmonds chiefly in refer- 
ence to his professional career and his political activity. I 
now turn to a phase of his character which is little known, 
but which is not in any way less remarkable. As a scholar 
and a philologian he had rare abilities, and a rarer industry. 
Having, somewhat early in life, possessed himself of a copy 
of the works of Dr. Wilkins, who was a bishop in the reign of 
Charles II., he became impressed with the thought that a 
universal language was within the bounds of human possibility, 
and he set himself diligently to work out the problem. During 
the whole of his busy political life ; all through his active pro- 
fessional career ; amid the strife and the worry, the turmoil 
and the rancour, of the controversy ] in which he was so 
prominent ; it was his habit to rise from his bed at three or 
four o'clock in the morning to endeavour to master this 
intricate task. In the failures of others who had essayed this 
gigantic work, he saw only incentives to fresh exertions. 
Nothing daunted him. Failing to find in ordinary type, as 
used by printers, the necessary symbols to embody his thoughts, 
he, at enormous expense, had an entirely new fount, from his 
own designs, made expressly for the book which was to be the 
crowning monument of his life. Finding no printing-office 
willing to undertake a work of so unaccustomed a nature, 
he fitted up a room in his house in Whittall Street, and here, 
by his own hands, the whole of the type was set. Mr. Massey, 
of Friday Bridge, informs me that he printed the book, 
and he has obligingly placed at my disposal a few specimens 
of the peculiar types used. The result was, a thick quarto 
volume, every page of which bristles with evidences of acute 
erudition, and the most accurate reasoning and discernment. 
It bears the title of " A Universal Alphabet, Grammar, and 
Language," and it has for a motto a text from the book of 
Zephaniah — " For then will I turn to the people a pure language, 
that they may call upon the name of the Lord." 

He seems to have aimed at the production of an " Alphabet 
of Characters," which should indicate the various sounds of 
the voice, and he succeeded. " I thought," he says, in the 



152 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

preface to his book, " and still think it, theoretically, a near 
approach to perfection. Into this character I translated the 
whole of St. Matthew's Gospel, and various extracts from the 
Psalms and other books." "With great reluctance, and not 
without much pain," he came to the conclusion that this 
system was impracticable, and he " therefore gave up the idea 
altogether of that character, and looked about for some other." 
It then occurred to him that the Roman alphabet " might be 
supplemented by certain marks, so as to represent all the 
elementary sounds ;" and this resulted in his compiling an 
alphabet containing forty symbols, of which five — ai, au, oi, 
ou, and oo are compounds ; the remaining thirty-five are the 
ordinary letters, some of which have marks under them, like 
the dash we make under a word in writing to indicate greater 
force or emphasis, thus — U DZodz. 

Having arrived at this point, he intimates his belief that 
his next discovery was the result of direct inspiration. " I am 
far from superstitious, yet I must confess, with regard to this 
discovery, I have long felt as though I had been no more than 
a mere instrument, accomplishing the will of Another ; and that 
the direction of my thoughts, and my ultimate convictions, 
were only a part of the development of my own mind, enforced 
and controlled by some internal law, which eusured its own 
effects without any original exercise of my own reason. One 
thing is certain : I cannot tell how it was brought into my. own 
mind, and I have no recollection of the process which ultimately 
revealed to me a knowledge of the power and essential import- 
ance of the discovery." 

The discovery of which he speaks is that the " success of 
the Philosophic [language] turned upon the proper use of two 
short vowels and three nasal consonants. These are the short 
u, as in faithful, and the i in pin, and the consonants, m, 
n, and n [i.e., ng~\. One of these three consonants is to 
be found in the centre of every root of the [philosophic] 
language. They resemble the reed in the hautboy — they give 
a metallic ring in the words where they occur. They may be 
compared to the sound of the trumpet in a concert ; the other 
consonants are the sound of the drum — rub-a-dub-dub." 

It is of course impossible, in a short notice like this, to give 
a thousandth part of the methods and arguments by which 
Mr. Edmonds works out his theory ; but I shall attempt to 
make his process clear by one or two short examples. 



GEOKGE EDMONDS. 153 

He starts by assuming that, as all words are reducible to 
nouns as a first principle, so tlie wbole of the nouns can be 
classified into forty "genera." These genera are each divisible 
into " differences," and the differences are s "ib-divisible into 
" species." He gives a list of the "genera," each of which is 
composed of two vowels and two consonants ; • nd then, in a 
series of very elaborate tables, he proceeds to shoV how words 
of every possible signification can be built up from I ■ e materials 
thus provided and classified. For instance, amongst tie genera, 
onji is the root-word for insects, anji for fish, enjii'ur birds, and 
inji for beasts. Taking anji — or fish — for my examp : \ necause 
it is the shortest, I may mention that he divides fisL into nine 
"differences," two of viviparous, five of oviparou- ae of 
Crustacea, and one of scaly river fish. I will give one example* 
of each class, merely pointing out that the letters anj occur in 
the middle of each name. The final letters give the specie 
the initials the specific fish indicated, thus : Panjoo is wl 
Banjoi is skate, Danjo is herring, Kanja is gurnet, Danji is 
sea-perch, Danjai is eel, Banjino is plaice, Vanjoinoi is star- 
fish, and Fanjino is salmon. 

The same process of building up words from simple roots 
is carried on all through the whole range of thought and 
action ; and the result as a whole is that, as a theoretical 
system, the entire subject is successfully worked out. 

Whether it will ever be carried out in practice is 
extremely doubtful. Some Spanish enthusiasts were so 
enraptured with Mr. Edmonds's book that they sought and 
obtained an interview with the late Emperor Napoleon, with a 
view to secure his patronage of the new scheme. The expres- 
sion of his opinion was short, but shrewd. He said the only 
way to establish universal language was to first establish 
universal empire ; and that, he thought, would not be possible 
just yet. 

In July, 1867, Mr. Edmonds, when 79 years of age, married, 
at the Old Church, Leamington, as his second wife, Miss 
Mary Fairfax, of Barford, near Warwick, the descendant of a 
truly noble family. She was 75 years of age at the time. 
Their natures and dispositions, however, being so very 
dissimilar, this proved to be an unhappy union, and after living 
together three weeks only, they separated by mutual consent. 
His mind at this time— and, indeed, for some previous time — 
must have been giving way. Eventually, he was placed in the 



154 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

asylum at Winson Green. Froni thence he was removed to a 
private asylum at Northampton, where he died in the year 
1868, being 80 years of age. 

His funeral at the General Cemetery was attended by most 
of the leading Liberals of the town, and by great crowds of 
admirers. Charles Vince, who was so soon to follow him, 
delivered a very eloquent address over the open grave, in 
which he said, " For the firmness with which he maintained 
his convictions, and for the zeal and ability with which he 
advocated tKm, he will always have a name and a place in the 
history of his native town, if not in the history of his country. 
To the honour of his memory it will be said that he held his 
opinior.fi hi nestly ; laboured for them diligently ; devoted great 
gifts and rare energy to their promotion ; and amply proved 
his sincerity, and won the crown of the conscientious, by the 
thiags ohat he suffered." 

It is, in my opinion, not very creditable to the Liberal 
party in the town that George Edmonds has no public memo- 
rial. The generation passing away may remember his face and 
figure ; but before it goes, it has a duty to its successors to 
perform. That duty is to leave some lasting memorial, in the 
shape of a statue, bust, or portrait, of the man, who, sacrificing 
his own freedom, helped thereby to gain for his countrymen 
liberty of thought, liberty of speech, and liberty to carry on in 
the future the beneficent policy which he advocated with so 
much eloquence and perseverance. 



155 



THE EAELT DATS OF CHAELES 
VTNOE. 



"1T7ITH reverent pen and loving spirit, I sit down to write of 
' " one whose sunny smile brightened every circle upon 
which it shone ; whose massive intellect and clear mental 
vision discovered subtle truths and deep symbolic meanings in 
common things ; whose winning and graphic eloquence made 
these truths and meanings clear to others, showing them that 
not a blade of grass springs by the roadside, nor an insect 
flutters for a day in the gladdening light of the spring-time, 
but has its lesson, if men will but search for it, of tender 
mercy and fatherly care. His broad and catholic spirit was 
wide enough to embrace within his friendship men of widely 
divergent thought and belief. His life was one long and eloquent 
lesson to us all. If ever man deserved the blessing following 
the words, " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of 
these, my brethren, ye did it unto me," that man was 
Charles Vince, for of him, more emphatically than can be said 
of most of us, it may be recorded that " he went about doing 
good." 

It is not necessary to sketch the mature character of one so 
recently taken from amongst us. The shadow of his homely 
figure has scarcely faded from our streets, and the sound of his 
eloquent voice still seems to vibrate in our ears. It seems but 
yesterday that, on that cold and cheerless day, his lifeless but 
honoured remains were borne to the grave through the crowds 
of sympathising people who thronged the busy streets to see 
the last of him they knew so well and loved so heartily. Little 
could be added to the warm tributes that were paid so recently 
to the memory of the gifted, truthful, fearless, earnest, hard- 
working Christian teacher, who, in the prime of his life and 
the zenith of his powers, was removed from the sphere which 
he adorned by the purity of his character, and benefited by 
the power and graces of his intellect. 



156 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

But these tributes referred mainly to what he was, and what 
he did, in the later part of his career, and in the maturity of 
his powers. In some of them the references to his parentage, 
his birth, and his boyhood, were singularly inaccurate. In one 
periodical of large circulation and great influence, statements 
full of error and misrepresentation went forth to the world 
unchallenged. It is my purpose, therefore, in this paper, to 
correct the mistakes of those who wrote, being imperfectly 
informed ; and to give, as I had it from the lips of his friends, 
his schoolfellows, and his relatives, a simple, but at all events a 
strictly accurate, record of the few and unromantic events of 
the early days of one who became so fruitful in goodness and 
in charity. 

With the view that this little sketch should at least be free 
from serious error, I made, the other day, a special pilgrimage 
to Yince's birthplace — the pleasant town of Farnham in Surrey. 
I stood before the lowly cottage in which he first drew 
breath ; I sat in the little room where his father and his 
mother taught him practical lessons of truthfulness and 
sympathy; I looked into the little plain deal cupboard his 
father made for him, in which he stored the books he loved so 
well and studied so intently. I talked with his schoolfellows 
and the companions of his boyish days, and listened to those 
who were the chosen friends of his youth-hood, and I noted 
the brightening of the eye, and the more fervid tones of the 
voice, as one after another told me of the budding intellect, 
and of the germination of the Avarm and tender spirit, of him 
they were all so proud of. 

After a long continuance of cold and cheerless weather, 
the morning of Saturday, the 26th of May, 1877, was 
bright and genial. An unclouded sun, and a warm south- 
western wind, awoke the birds to melody, and gave the flowers 
new fragrance. As the train bore me through pleasant Surrey, 
the fields not only smiled — they absolutely seemed to laugh 
with joy at the advent of the first day of summer, and when we 
stopped at the pretty station of plutocratic Surbiton, the air 
was laden with the perfume of lilacs and of hawthorn blossom. 
From a dense thicket, nearly overhead, came cheerfully the 
melodious notes of " the careful thrush," who, as Browning 
says — ■ 

" Sings his song thrice over, 
Lest I should think he never could recapture 
That first, fine, careless rapture." 



CHARLES VINCB. 157 

As the train passes on, I see, beyond the silvery Thames, 
the stately front of Hampton Court Palace. A little further 
on we pass Esher, where, on a tree-girt hill, the lofty pediment 
of Claremont peeps through the trees, and reminds me that here, 
sixty years ago, the hopes of England were quenched by the 
death of the youthful Princess Charlotte. Strange, that this 
house should have been the death-place of the unthroned 
heiress of England, and, forty years afterwards, of the dethroned 
crafty old French king, Louis Philippe. 

When we stop at Woking Common, I feel at home. 
Here, half-a-century ago, when there was not even a hut on 
the spot which is now a busy town, I used to play as a boy. 
Tonder is the Basingstoke canal, where, with willow wand 
and line of string from village shop, I used to beguile the 
credulous gudgeon and the greedy perch. Just up that lane 
to the right, on the road to Knap Hill — famed the world over 
for its hundreds of acres of rhododendrons — is the nurseryman's 
shed to which, in the summer, cart-loads of the small, wild, 
black cherries came from Normandy, for seed. Here the boys 
of the neighbourhood had the privilege of gorging themselves 
gratis with the luscious fruit, on the simple condition that they 
placed the cherry-stones in bowls provided for the purpose. 
As the train moves on, we dash through a deep cutting of 
yellow-coloured sand, and emerge upon a wild and dreary 
region. On the hills to the right are a gaol, a reformatory, 
and a lunatic asylum; and on the left is the "Necropolis," 
where London, in the black and sandy soil, deposits the myriads 
of its dead. All around, the ground is olive-coloured with 
unblossomed heath, bright and golden here and there with the 
flowerets of the prickly gorse. Dense and dismal plantations 
of black-looking Scotch firs are enlivened at intervals by the 
delicate and tender green spikelets of a sprouting larch. On 
we rush for miles through this sombre region, through dank 
morasses, and past dark and gloomy pools, from one of which 
a heron rises majestically. On, until, in a broad and airy 
region, the red coats of soldiers are seen dotted here and 
there amongst the heather. In the distance are the serried 
lines of the tents of Aldershot. Just beyond this point the 
train suddenly enters the chalk formation, and comes simul- 
taneously into a cultivated district. A mile or two further, 
and the train stops at Farnham ; birthplace of Toplady, who 
wrote the beautiful hymn, " Rock of Ages ; " of William 



158 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

Cobbett, sturdiest of English yeomen ; and of Charles Vince, 
who, coming to Birmingham an utter- stranger, so endeared 
himself to its people, that he was universally beloved ; and when 
he died, was followed to his grave by thousands of the principal 
inhabitants, amid the tearful regrets of the entire population. 

As I leave the station, and approach the town, I see on my 
left, nestling under a cliff, an old timbered house, bearing on 
its front the inscription, " Cobbett's birthplace." It is an inn, 
and I enter in search of refreshment. A somewhat surly man 
appears, and tells me that he " ain't got no cold meat." I 
persevere, and am told that I can have some bread and 
cheese, which are accordingly served. I ask the landlord — 
for such the man is — if there are any relics of Cobbett remain- 
ing in the house ? The reply is, " not as I knows on." I am 
told, however, that he is buried in the churchyard hard by, 
and that his grave is " right agen the front door," and this is 
all the man knew, or cared to tell, about the matter. 

The most striking peculiarity of Farnham, as seen from 
the cliff behind the " Jolly Farmer," is the abundance of 
hop gardens. As far as the eye can reach, in all directions, 
little else appears to be cultivated. At the time I visited it, 
the appearance was very singular. From the tops of distant 
hills ; creeping down into the valleys ; even to the back doors of 
the houses in the principal street, the whole surface of the 
earth seemed clothed with stiff bristles. About two thousand 
acres of land in this parish alone are planted with hop bines, 
and as each acre takes three thousand hop-poles to support the 
climbing crop, it follows that there were five or six millions of 
these poles standing bare and upright before the astonished 
eye. No wonder that a conical hill at a little distance looked 
like a gigantic hedgehog. 

At the extreme westerly end of the main street of the town 
there is a small house on the left, standing some twenty feet 
back from the line of the other buildings. The space between 
the house and the street is now covered by a conservatory. 
A greenhouse adjoins the house on the west side, and a large 
piece of ground fronting the street for some distance is occu- 
pied as a nursery, and, when I saw it, was gay with flowers 
and verdure. In the year 1823 this house, together with a 
large plot of adjoining land (now built upon), was the property 
of Charles Vince's father, and in this little bouse Charles Vince 
was born. The father was by trade a builder and carpenter, 



CHARLES VINCE. 159 

and was very skilful. If he had any intricate work on hand, it 
was his habit to go to bed, even in the day-time, in order that 
he might, undisturbed, work out in his mind the proper 
means of accomplishing the end in view. He held a sort of 
duplex position. He was foreman to, and " the life and soul 
of the business " of, Messrs. Mason and Jackson, builders ; but 
he had a private connection of his own, which he worked inde- 
pendently. He was greatly liked, and the late Sir George 
Barlow, a landed proprietor of the neighbourhood, made him a 
kind of factotum on his estate. He seems to have been a 
very original character ; to have had superior abilities as an 
artificer ; and to have had most of the qualities which go to 
form what is called a "successful" man. He was, however, a 
bad financier ; he did not understand " business ;" and so he 
went on through life, contented to remain where he was ; his 
abilities securing to him competence and comfort ; enabling 
him to give his children a good education ; and to maintain his 
position as a respectable and worthy member of society. He 
had something of the old Puritan about him, and was "brimful 
of fun and humour." He was very original in speech and 
thought, and he was very earnest in his religious life and prac- 
tice. A good story was told me of his quaint manner. At 
the chapel of which he was a member, one of the ministers 
having died, a successor was appointed, who in some way 
caused a division amongst his people, some of whom seceded. 
Mr. Vince, senior, remained. Some weeks afterwards it was 
decided by those who still held to the old chapel that it would 
be better for the minister to leave, but this decision was not 
made public. A few days after, one of the seceders, meeting 
Yince, said, " I understand you're going to buy your minister 
a new pulpit gown." " No," was the reply, " you've missed it ; 
we're going to buy him a neiv travelling cloak. ," 

Mrs. Vince, senior, was a member of a very good family in 
Sussex, and was a woman of superior mental powers. She 
is described as a very industrious, careful, motherly woman ; 
one to whom all the neighbours applied for advice and assist- 
ance in any trouble or emergency, and never in vain, for 
her heart was full of sympathy and her brain of fertility of 
resource. She was a pious, humble, God-fearing woman, who 
did her duty; trained her children carefully; set them the 
example of a truthful, practical, and loving Christian life; and 
had the satisfaction of seeing the results of her excellent 



160 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

example and precepts carried into full life and activity in the 
career of her only son. 

Such were the parents of Charles Yince, and such the 
influences which surrounded his childhood. He was a bright, 
intelligent boy ; he never had any trouble with his lessons, and 
was remarkably quick in arithmetic. His father was very 
proud of him, and he was sent to the best school in the place. 
It was kept by a nephew of the celebrated William Cobbett. 
"Tommy" Cobbett, as he was always called, seems to have 
been a favourable specimen of a country schoolmaster in those 
days. On his leaving the town, about 1837 or 1838, a Mr. 
Harrington took his place, and Charles Yince remained as a 
pupil for a time, but Harrington went to old Mr. Yince to say 
that he felt he was dishonest in taking his money, for " Charles 
ought to take my place and teach me." 

Upon leaving school, Charles was duly bound apprentice 
to Messrs. Mason and Jackson, where he was taught by his 
father. Without indentures of apprenticeship in those days, 
an artificer had no status in his trade ; yet it would seem, in 
this case, that the "binding" was regarded by each party as 
little more than a necessary formality, for the youth did not 
spend the whole of his time in the service of his nominal 
employers. He was always with his father, and Sir George 
Barlow took a great fancy to him. He worked on at his trade, 
however, for some years, and only left the workman's bench to 
assume the vocation of a teacher. 

His parents were members of the Congregational Chapel in 
the place, and their son was a constant attendant at the Sunday 
school, first as a scholar and afterwards as a teacher. When 
he was about 17 or 18 years of age, one of his relatives, and 
the then master of the British School in the place, conceived 
the idea of establishing a Mechanics' Institute. Yince joined 
the movement with ardour, and the little institution was soon 
an accomplished fact. A grammar class, to which Yince 
attached himself, was very popular among the young men of 
the town, and they soon after established a debating club. 
Here the latent talents in Yince developed themselves. He 
became a fluent speaker, and was soon asked to deliver a 
lecture. Being half a poet himself, he chose Poetry as his 
topic, and seems to have given himself up to the preparation of 
his subject with a determination to succeed. One of his old 
companions (whose towering head, by the way, would be a 



CHARLES VINCE. 161 

splendid artist's "study" for an apostle) told me that at 
this time they read together " Paradise Lost," a great part 
of which he said he could still repeat from memory. Vince 
used to declaim aloud the " bits " that pleased him, and " he 
was never tired " of the passage in the tenth book, where the 
poet, describing the change which followed the Fall, says — 

" Some say He bid His angels turn askance 
The poles of Earth some ten degrees or more 
From the sun's axle ; they with labour pushed 

Oblique the centric globe, 

to bring in change 

Of seasons to each clime ; else had the spring 
Perpetual smiled on Earth with verdant flowers, 
Equal in days and nights." 

The condition of his mind at this time was so eloquently 
described to me by this friend, that I shall quote his words as 
I took them down from his own lips : " To ordinary appear- 
ance his mind was like a common flower; with beauty, perhaps, 
that would not catch the unobservant eye ; but intimate as I 
was, I could discover in his homely talk, beauties that those 
who only knew him slightly could not observe, because he kept 
his petals closed. He did not open to many, but I saw, or 
thought I saw, the germs of what he afterwards became." 

The lecture was a great success, and the conductors of the 
Sunday school had no difficulty afterwards in persuading him 
to give short addresses to the children. He appears about 
this time to have decided to become a preacher, and his 
character became deepened and intensified by the determina- 
tion. This is so well described in a letter from Farnham 
that I shall again quote : " When he first fully made up his 
mind to give his attention to preaching and teaching, he and I 
were deputed to visit a village about an hour's walk from this 
town to canvass the houses, and see if a Sunday school could be 
established. I remember it was about this time of the year, 
and with what delight my friend seemed to drink in all the 
beauties of Nature on that quiet Sunday morning. He seemed 
to look on these tilings with new eyes ; and he often, in years long 
after, referred in sermons and in speeches to that Sunday 
morning's walk." 

Tire Sunday school was established, and here, " in one of 
Surrey's prettiest villages," Vince preached his first sermon in 
a cottage. 



162 PEESONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

At this time, too, he became a politician, taking his lessons 
and forming his political creed from a most unlikely source, 
apparently. This was the Weekly Dispatch, a paper that in 
those days was scarcely thought to be proper reading for young 
people. He read it, however, with avidity, and there is no 
doubt that it had much to do with forming his political 
character, and in laying the foundation of the sturdy inflexibility 
with which he held to his political principles. One of his early 
friends says, " He liked the Weekly Dispatch. The politics, 
being racy, had a great attraction for him, and he used to 
drink them in ravenously." 

From this time he was the " pet speaker " of the place. His 
lectures at the Mechanics' Institute were delivered frequently, 
and became immensely popular. The lecture-room was far too 
small for the eager listeners who crowded to hear him. " A 
large market room" was taken, and here, when he lectured, 
there was no space for many who wished to hear him. He 
preached on Sundays in the villages around, and at length was 
asked to occupy a pulpit in Farnham itself. " I remember," 
says one of his friends, " his first sermon in the old Congre- 
gational Chapel. The place was crammed to excess, by people 
too who were not in the habit of attending such places." 

All this time, this " carpenter, and son of a carpenter," 
worked diligently at his trade ; but a sudden vacancy occurring 
in the management of the Farnham British Schools, he was 
asked to become the master. He did so. He left the carpenter's 
bench on a Saturday, and became schoolmaster on the following 
Monday. This, however, was but a temporary arrangement, 
for he was at the time negotiating with the managers of 
Stepney College to become a pupil there ; and, an opportunity 
shortly afterwards occurring, which he had very promptly to 
accept or refuse, he somewhat abruptly vacated his seat as a 
schoolmaster, and became once more a scholar. 

This was in 1848. He remained in the college four years, 
and he soon learned to laugh heartily at his Farnham Latin 
and his Farnham lectures. He was in the habit, while at the 
college, of going on Sundays to hear the best preachers in the 
Metropolis, and he has told me that he often walked from 
Stepney to Camberwell to hear Melvill, who was then the most 
popular preacher in London. 

At the end of his academic career he was invited to become 
the minister at Mount Zion Chapel, in Birmingham. How he 



CHARLES YINCE. 163 

laboured here every one in the town can testify, and I need 
not say one word ; but there is one fact that should be more 
generally known, as it shows one result of his work. In the 
year before he came to Birmingham (1851), the sum collected 
in this chapel for the Baptist Missions was £28 4s. lid. The 
report for 1874 — the last under his care — gives the amount 
collected in the year as £332 5s. 5d. 

I am obliged to omit much that is interesting, but I have 
at least shown that his childhood's home was comfortable and 
respectable, and that he did not spend his boyhood among 
companions unworthy of him. In his native town his memory 
is as warmly cherished as it is in Birmingham. His last public 
act there was to preach the first sermon in a new and remark- 
ably handsome Congregational Church, and it is said that on 
that occasion, the number of people who sought to hear him 
was so great, that the Church, although a spacious one, would 
not contain the half of them. " There was no room to receive 
them ; no, not so much as about the door." 

A handsome gothic cross has recently been erected over 
Vince's grave. It bears the following inscription : 

TO THE MEMORY OF 

CHARLES VINCE, 

Born, July 6, 1824; Died, October 22, 1874: 

WHO FOR TWENTY-TWO TEARS WAS THE MINISTER OF GRAHAM STREET 
CHAPEL, IN THIS TOWN. 

As a Preacher 

of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, his teaching was especially 

characterised by perfect faith in the infinite love 

and mercy of God, and by deep and tender sympathy with the hopes, 

the sorrows, and the struggles of men. 

As a Citizen, 

his generous zeal for the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed, 

made him the strenuous advocate of all efforts for 

social and political reform. 

The sweetness of his nature, the purity of his life, 

and the manliness and simplicity of his character, compelled the respect 

and attracted the friendship of those who differed from him. 

His courage, integrity, courtesy, and charity, 

won the affection, and his eloquence commanded the admiration, 

of all classes of his fellow-townsmen, 

by whom this memorial is erected as a tribute to his 

personal worth and public services. 



164 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 



JOH1ST SMITH, SOLICITOR 



T1VERYBODY in Birmingham knew "Jack Smith, the 
-" lawyer." It was something worth remembering to see 
him drive up New Street in the morning on his way to his 
office. Everything about his equipage was in keeping. The 
really beautiful pair of ponies ; the elaborate silver- trimmed 
brown harness ; the delicate ivory-handled whip ; the elegant 
little carriage ; the smart boy-groom behind ; and the radiant 
owner in front. Most carefully, too, was the owner " got up." 
His white hat ; his well-fitting coat, with its gay flowers in the 
button-hole ; his scrupulously clean linen ; the bright buff waist- 
coat ; the blue necktie, and the diamond pin, all seemed to 
harmonise with his broad, merry, brown face as he passed along, 
with a sort of triumphant air, glancing from side to side, and 
greeting with a roguish, happy-looking smile such of the foot 
passengers as he happened to know. Everybody turned to 
look at him ; and most people looked as if they felt it to be a 
compliment to be recognised by him in the street. 

John Smith was the son of Mr. Dyer Berry Smith, a 
printer, engraver, and wholesale stationer in a very extensive 
way of business in Prospect Row. Forty or fifty years ago his 
firm was known all over the country, for they printed the bill- 
heads for nearly every grocer in the kingdom, the imprint, 
" Smith and Greaves, sc," being prominent on every one. 
John was born in Prospect Row, in the year 1819. He was 
intended by his father for the medical profession, and spent 
some years in preliminary studies. He was exceedingly fond of 
chemistry, in which he became very proficient, and the study 
of which continued to be a favourite pursuit all his life. He 
had also considerable skill as an anatomist, and it is known 
that, within a few years of his death, having caught a mole in 
his garden, he dissected it most skilfully, with a view to 
discover the peculiarities of the eyes and optic nerves of that 
singular animal. His knowledge of chemical and medical 



JOHN SMITH. 165 

science was, in after life, of great service to him. ~No donbt it 
was a considerable factor in the marvellous defence he made of 
Palmer, the Rugeley poisoner, which, though unsuccessful, was 
universally considered amongst lawyers to have been a master- 
piece of professional skill. 

Having abandoned the idea of becoming a medical 
practitioner, as not affording scope for his energetic spirit, he 
was articled to the late Mr. Alexander Harrison, the solicitor. 
Immediately after the expiration of his articles, Smith made 
his appearance in the Bankruptcy Court as an Advocate. In 
this capacity he showed very great tact, and an intimate 
knowledge of every minute point of practice. His pleasant 
voice and manner soon made him a favourite ; and he applied 
himself to this branch of his profession with such success, 
that it may be said that down to his death there was scarcely 
a bankruptcy case of any importance in the Birmingham Court 
in which he was not professionally engaged on one side or the 
other. 

He possessed consummate ability, an imperturbable temper, 
and great confidence in himself. His marvellous coolness 
under the most embarrassing circumstances, his quickness of 
apprehension, his ready wit, and his boundless fertility of 
resource, have won him many a legal victory. It is but justice, 
however, to add that his easy notions as to truthfulness 
occasionally carried him over difficulties which would have 
been insurmountable by a man of more acute moral sense. 

His memory was very tenacious. I had once a very 
remarkable instance of this. I was dining at the "Acorn" one 
Monday, and Smith was there. He came to me after the 
cloth was cleared, and said, " Didn't I see you at Vince's 
Chapel last night ? " On my replying in the affirmative, he 
began to eulogise the sermon, which he said he had repeated the 
night before, word for word, to some friends at his house, after 
he got home. Knowing his failing, I smiled incredulously, 
but he began immediately to recite the sermon verbatim, and 
I verily believe that he could have gone through the whole 
without a mistake of a single word. 

It is well known that he was often short of money. On 
one occasion he wrote to George Edmonds, asking for a loan of 
seven pounds, adding, " on Wednesday I will faithfully promise 
to repay you." Edmonds sent the money, and on Wednesday 
called at Smith's office, expecting to be repaid. After the 



166 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

usual civilities, Edmonds asked for the cash. Smith affected 
to be ignorant, but on Edmonds saying, " Well, I've got your 
note promising to repay me to-day," said,- "Let's look 
at it, old fellow; there must be some mistake." The note was 
produced, and after reading it, Smith said, " I thought you 
must be wrong, and I find it is so ; this note says that ' on 
Wednesday I will ' — what ? Pay ? No. ' Faithfully promise.' 
Well, I do now faithfully promise to repay you, but Heaven 
knows when you'll get the money." 

Some years ago one of the Banks brought an action 
against some one who owed them money, and Smith was 
retained for the defence. He first attempted to compromise 
the action, but he found that his client had in some way so 
annoyed the directors and the manager, that they would not 
entertain any proposition ; the case therefore stood for trial at 
Warwick Assizes. Smith hit upon a very novel expedient. 
He caused subpoenas to be served upon every clerk in the bank 
and upon the manager. The latter had what is technically 
called a subpoena duces tecum, in virtue of which he was under 
an obligation to produce at Warwick the whole of the books 
of the establishment. This caused great dismay, it being seen 
that if the trial were to go on, the business of the bank must 
be entirely suspended. The result was that Smith's terms 
were accepted, and the action was settled. 

During the "railway mania" of 1845 a company was 
formed in Birmingham for making a railway from Wolver- 
hampton to Birkenhead, and Smith was its solicitor. The 
company, like many others, " came to grief." The directors 
were great losers, and much litigation followed. In those days 
there were no "winding up" arrangements, and the creditors 
of defunct companies had to sue individual directors to recover 
the amount of their claims. One action in connection with 
this company came on for trial at Warwick, in 1847 or 1848, 
before the late Mr. Justice Patteson. Mr. M. (the present 
Justice M.) was counsel for the defence, and Smith was a 
witness for the plaintiff. The Judge was deaf, and Smith's 
loud voice and clear replies evidently pleased him. He 
complimented Smith, who was soon in one of his best humours, 
his broad, merry face beaming with smiling good-nature. His 
examination-in-chief being over, Mr. M. got up, prospectus in 
hand, and majestically waving a pair of gold eye-glasses, said, 
" Well, Mr. Smith, I see by this prospectus that the solicitor 



JOHN SMITH. 167 

of this company is John Smith, Esquire, Upper Temple Street, 
Birmingham ; are you ' John Smith, Esquire ?'" 
Smith (with great energy) : " I AM !" 

Mr. M. (evidently disconcerted) : " Oh ! very good, Mr. 
Smith ; very good ! H'm ! I see by your prospectus that 
you had a large number of persons connected with you in this 
matter. You had, I see, Parliamentary agents, solicitors, 
London solicitors, local solicitors, consulting engineers, acting 
engineers, surveyors, auditors, secretary, and a variety of other 
officers. Had you standing counsel, Mr. Smith ? " 

Smith (folding his arms, and with the greatest possible 
coolness) : " No, we hadn't, Mr. M. ; but I remember the 
subject being discussed at one of our board meetings, and I 
mentioned your name as that of a rising young man at the 
Bar, and there was some idea of retaining you. " 

The effect was electrical. Everybody in court was con- 
vulsed with laughter. The judge put down his pen, threw 
himself back in his chair, and laughed until he shook like a 
piece of blancmange. As soon as he could recover himself, he 
asked, in tones tremulous with suppressed mirth, " Are you 
satisfied, Mr. M. ? " Mr. M. was completely nonplussed ; 
could make no defence; tried to "rub it off" by delivering 
himself of a homily upon the degradation it was to the Bar of 
England that some of its members should be capable of lending 
themselves to the promotion of " Bubble Companies; " but it 
would not do. He lost his temper ; he lost his case ; and it 
was many years before he heard the last of it. 

Some friends of mine had been directors of this company, 
and I had a good deal to do with winding it up. Smith's 
bill was a curiosity. Two items in it are probably unsur- 
passed in the whole records of the taxing masters' offices. 
They were as follows : £ s. d. 

"Attending, making inquiries, at the houses of eight 
hundred applicants for shares, and twelve hundred 
referees, including calls made at the residences of 
various tradesmen, tax collectors, and others in 
their respective neighbourhoods — say, two thousand 

attendances, at six and eightpence each 666 13 4 

" Twelve hundred letters to referees, at five shillings each 300 

It is needless to say that the greater part of these charges 
was disallowed. 

I met him one morning on the platform of the old Duddes- 
ton Row Station. We were both going to London. He 



168 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 

proposed that we should ride together, but as I had taken a 
second-class ticket and he a first, I pointed out the difficulty. 
" Oh, never mind," said he ; " come in here, they never charge 
extra for any friends of mine ;" so I was persuaded to go in 
his carriage. We were alone, and he kept me laughing the 
whole of the way. On arriving at Camden Town, where the 
tickets were then collected, I took from my purse the amount 
of the excess fare, so as to be in readiness for the collector. 
As soon as he appeared at the window, Smith set up an 
unearthly scream ; put on a most extraordinary expression of 
face ; and feigned madness. This behaviour so frightened 
the poor collector, that, keeping his eye fixed upon Smith, he 
mechanically held out his hand ; took my ticket without looking 
at it ; and hurried from the carriage, evidently congratulating 
himself upon a lucky escape. 

Smith occasionally got into trouble with the " powers that 
be ; " and in one case, where he was obstinate, an " attachment " 
was issued, under which he was confined for a few days in 
Coventry Gaol. He became, in a day or two, the life and soul 
of the place. I was shown a letter written by him from 
prison to the opposing solicitor, asking him to go over to 
arrange terms of settlement. " You can come at any time,' 7 
wrote Smith ; " you'll be sure to find me at home." 

He certainly was no common man, and but for one or two 
unfortunate deficiencies in his character, he might have risen 
to great heights in his profession. He had abilities of no 
common order, and he had a " taking " way that was very 
fascinating. Even those who knew his failings, and could 
hardly accord him their respect, could not help liking the man. 
His somewhat untimely and sudden death caused much regret. 
On the morning of September 23rd, 1867, in accordance with 
his usual practice, he went for a ride on horseback, returning 
to his house in Sir Harry's Road about half-past ten. Feeling 
somewhat faint, he retired to his room ; a fit of apoplexy super- 
vened. Mr. Samuel Berry, and Mr. Oliver Pemberton, were 
hastily summoned. On their arrival, Smith was found to be 
insensible, and by twelve o'clock at noon he had ceased to 
breathe. He was in his 49th ye&v. 



FINIS. 



PRINTED BY M. BILLING, SON, AND CO., LIVERY STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 



CADBURY'S 
COCOA ESSENCE, 



PURE, SOLUBLE, REFRESHING. 



" Cocoa treated thus, will, we expect, 
prove to be one of the most nutritions, 
digestible, and restorative of drinks."— 

British Medical Journal. 

" The Essence of Cocoa is jnst what it 
is declared to be by Messrs. Cadbnry 
Brothers."— The Lancet. 

"We strongly recommend Cadbury's 
Cocoa Essence as a diet for Children."— 
Medical Mirror. 

"Those who wish for pure Cocoa in 
a convenient form should obtain the 
Cocoa Essence. — Nature. 

"The Cocoa Essence is an agreeable 
and economical preparation; a little of 
it goes a great way."- — The Medical Times and 
Gazette. 

One tea-spoonful makes a breakfast 
cup of stronger and better Cocoa than 
two tea-spoonfuls of any " prepared " 
Cocoa that thickens in the cup. 



MAKERS TO THE QUEEN, 



CHRISTIAN'S PATE DE LICHEN, 

OR ICELAND MOSS PASTE, 

An invaluable Lozenge for Coughs, Colds, Hoarseness, Sore Throats, 
Bronchitis, &c. 

Boxes. Is., 2s.6d., and 4s.6d. each. 

CHRISTIAN'S DANDELION CHOCOLATE, 

Recommended to persons predisposed to Liver Affections, Weak 
Digestion, Flatulence, &c., as an article of diet.' 

Fackets, 6d., Is., 3s., and 5s. each. 

Christian's Oriental and Odoriferous Perfumes. 

These Perfumes, prepared for the use of The Prince & Princess of 

Wales, on their visit to Birmingham, contain, in a concentrated 

form, the aroma of the most delicate flowers, and are unrivalled 

for their freshness and durability, 

PURE SODA & OTHER WATERS, 

Prepared with Artesian Well Water, on the 

most approved modern methods, and guaranteed 

equal to any made. 

Extract from Analyst's Report.—" The water used is, of many 
hundreds analysed by me from the neighbourhood of Birming- 
ham, undoubtedly THE BEST IN ALL RESPECTS." 

THE SELTZER WATER 

Stimulates the, 6tomach and is a grateful antacid and 
alterative. 

LITHIA AND POTASS WATER 

Are much recommended in Gouty and Rheumatic affections. 

LEMONADE AND GINGER BEER 

Of fine flavour and particularly refreshing. 

GINGER ALE, 

A fine tonic, possessing the full flavour of Jamaica Ginger. 

Prices in. Syphons, 3s. to 4s. 
Bottles, Is. 3d. to Ss.6d. per dozen. 

Prepared only by ARBLASTER (late Christian), 

CHEMIST & SODA "W^-TEIR, HyC-A-nSTTJ^J^CTTJI^EI^ 

New Street, and 7, Hagley Road, BIRMINGHAM. 




FJFLOXUE C QLLAHD & Q QI«IjiA-3EL23. 

ROGERS & PRIESTLEY, 

COLMOUE HOUSE, COIMORE SOW, 

Opposite Temple Row West and St. Philip's Church, BIRMINGHAM, 
PIANOFORTE MANUFACTURERS. 



PIANOFORTES, 
AMERICAN 

ORGANS, 

and 

HARMONIUMS 

by all the 

Best Makers. 



BLOGSFLS & 1 * - ■ . m^ — — -^ — , 

COLMORE ROW, BIRMINGHAM: Manufactory— High St., Camden Town, London. 

ALL NEW MUSIC AS SOON AS PUBLISHED. 





WILLIAMDOWNING 

(CHAUCER'S HEAD,) 



DEALER IN 



RARE, CURIOUS, AND OUT- 
OF-THE-WAY BOOKS. 

SETS OF STANDARD 
BOOKS. 

BOOKS IN ELEGANT 
BINDINGS. 



Catalogues issued on the 15th 
of each month, gratis and post- 
free. 



74, NEW STREET, 
BIRMINGHAM. 



WATCHES, 
CLOCKS, 

JEWELLERY, 

DIAMONDS, 

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. 

E. C. MAESH, 

76, HIGH STREET, BIRMINGHAM, 

ESTABLISHED OVER HALF A CENTURY. 

THE PUREST MINERAL WATERS. 



BURROW'S 

MALVERN 

SELTZER, 

Soda, Potash, and Lithia Waters; Pure Lemonade 
and Ginger Beer ; also 

BURROW'S 

SLIDER 

WINE BINS. 

"THE BEST OF BINS." 

AGENT: T. L. REEVE, CHEMIST, 
19, NEW STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 



BANKS'S 

STRENGTHENING FOOD 

FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS. 

This Food has received the approbation of, and is 
recommended by, several most eminent Physicians and 
Surgeons, as a real Strengthening Food for Invalids 
and Young Children, containing abundance of Phosphates 
and Albumenoids, which are the muscular and bone-forming 
substances, and NOT STARCH, which is well known 
to be unfit for children as a food. 

Sold in Packets at 6d. and 1s. each ; and in Tins at 2s. 6d. and 5s. each, 
by most Chemists. 

PREPARED ONLY BY THE INVENTORS, 

M. BANKS & CO., Chemists, 

bull k/eis-q-, biie^mzihstq-ieij^im:. 

ESTABLISHED I826. 

ESTABLISHED I769. 

98, BULL STREET, 
BIRMINGHAM. 

LUNCHEON BArTuNION PASSAGE. 
WEDDING BREAKFASTS. 

BRIDE CAKES, &c. JELLIES, SOUPS, &c. 

THE CELEBRATED ALAMODE BEEP AND SAUSAGE ESTABLISHMENT. 

Genuine Spirits, Foreign and British Wines. 

DINNERS AND BALLS FURNISHED. EXTENSIVE DINING ROOMS. 



WILLIAM EDWARDS, 

CHRONOMETER, 

WATCH AND CLOCK MANUFACTURER, 

IMPORTER OF 

FRENCH CLOCKS, SWISS WATCHES, &c, 

GOLDSMITH, JEWELLER, SILVERSMITH, AND DIAMOND MERCHANT, 

4*, NEW STREET, BIRSIINGKAM. 

The best selected and most extensive Stock of high-class Jewellery in the 
Midland Counties. 

PRESENTATION" CXjOCSIS, 

PRESENTATION WATCHES, 

Including: many thoroughly rated and adjusted, with Patent Resillient Bankings, 
suitable for every clime. 



Wedding and Christening Presents in great variety, 



WILLIAM EDWARDS, 

EVANS & MATTHEWS, 

MANUFACTURING AND FURNISHING 

IBOIIOMEES AID CUTLERS, 

makers of all kinds of 

electro-plated goods, 

LAMP AND OIL MERCHANTS, &c; 

THE ORIGINAL IRONMONGERY HOUSE, 

ESTABLISHED 1784, 

80, BULL STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 



THE 

"ALPHA" PATENT PORTABLE 

GAS MAKING 
APPARATUS. 

FIVE MEDALS AWARDED. 
BRILLIANT, CONVENIENT, ECONOMICAL. 

For Large and Small Users of Gas. 
IN BUILDINGS OF EVERY CLASS. 
IN ALL COUNTRIES. 
HSP 1 ^ SEVERAL THOUSANDS IN USE. 
By means of this Apparatus any person can have, in any building-, Gas of o-reat 
brilliance and absolute purity, without trouble or danger. No cSal or lime no 
retorts punters, or gas-holders are employed. In the manufacture there is no 
dirt, no smell, no unsightly and expensive buildings. It requires no skilled 
labour in fixing or use, and there are no extras. 4 

Prices— 12 Lights, £16 16s.; 25 Lights, £30; 40 Liehtn £49 in« . finT,vw a *kk' inn 

For further particulars, apply to the Proprietor of the Patent, 

22, MARY ANN STREET, BIRMINGHAM; 147, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, E.C.; 

ALSO AT 

71, 2STEW STREET, B I K, M I 3ST Or IKC JL M , 

Where the Machines can be seen in operation daily. 




TRADE MARK. 




BUTTONS 

AND 

FANCY SMALLWARES. 



GREEN, CADRURY, & RICHARDS, 

GREAT HAMPTON STREET WORKS, BIRMINGHAM, 



MANUFACTURERS OF ALL KINDS OF 



LINEN, METAL, AND PEARL BUTTONS. 



PEAKL BUTTON FACTORY, 250, ICENIELD STEEET EAST. 



The Midland Educational Company, 

(LIMITED,) 
WHOLESALE BOOKSELLERS, 

School and Commercial Stationers, 

BOOKBIUDEES, 

Manufacturers of every kind of School and Office Furniture. 

ESTIMATES GIVEN FOR FITTING AND FURNISHING SCHOOLS. 

The STOCK OF BOOKS, comprising all the Standard and 

Newest Books, Bound Books, &c, is the largest 

and most varied in the Midland Counties. 

lUorarics, public Institutions, Hitcrarg Associations, See, supplied foitfj 
Books, periodicals, anU otfjcr publications on tfje most liberal terms. 




ORDERS TO ANY AMOUNT EXECUTED ON THE SHORTEST NOTICE. 

The largest SHOW ROOM in England for BOOKS, 
SCHOOL APPARATUS, &c. 

Catalogues, Terms, and any other information on application to the Manager, 

91 & 92, NEW STREET, & 40, HIGH STREET, 
b i dE$ m i :csr a- zh: .a. :m: _ 



RUDLAND & SMITH, 

CARPETS AT WHOLESALE PRICES. 

o d 




w 
> 

^ § ^li^Si^V"' ail g w 

Paten* Duplicate-Marking Whist Table, price £10. 

GENERAL HOUSE FURNISHERS, 

UNION PASSAGE AND LITTLE CHERRY STREET, 
BXJBE.AdcxCTGKEX.A.n&a:. 

FINE OLD IRISH WHISKY. 



(A SPECIALTY.) 

The above Spirit, of the best Dublin makes, and 7 years 
old, may be obtained at 



31s. pea? Grallon, 

FROM 

JOHN BRYCE & COMPANY, 

lint and jtyirtt $fUrrftante, 



44 & 45, BULL STREET, 
BIRMINGHAM. 



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Influenza or Cold in the Head, Hay-Fever, 
Sore Throats, &c, 

CURED IN A VERY LITTLE TIME, BY USING 

REEVE'S INHALIJSTE 

No medicine required. Sold by Chemists in every Town. 

PREPARED ONLY AT 

Reeve's Dispensing Establishment, 

NEW STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 

Wholesale Depot for REEVE'S DIGESTIVE CANDY. 



ESTABLISHED 1844. 



(Sweat Britain Jttutttal Cife 
Assurance Society 

head office— 101, cheapside, london; 

midland branch- 

26, temple street, birmingham. 

Committee of Management: 

ALDERMAN BIGGS, J.P., Birmingham. 

CAPTAIN WALTER BLAKE BURKE, Wolverhampton. 

RICHARD SMITH CASON, ESQ., Brierley Hill. 

H. HAWKES, ESQ., J.P., Birmingham. 

REV. CHARLES LEE, M.A., Vicar OF BlLSTON. 

F. E. LEWIS, ESQ., Wolverhampton. 

WILLIAM DERRY, Manager. 

drat grilain <$ixt Jnaurantt tyo., 

HEAD 0FFICE-101, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON; 

MIDLAND BRANCH- 

26, TEMPLE STEEET, BIEMHSTGHAM. 



Committee of Management: 

ALDERMAN BIGGS, J.P., Birmingham. 

CAPTAIN WALTER BLAKE BURKE, Wolverhampton. 

RICHARD SMITH CASON, ESQ., Brierley Hill. 

H. HAWKES, ESQ., J.P., Birmingham. 

REV. CHARLES LEE, M.A., Vicar OF Bilston. 

F. E. LEWIS, ESQ., Wolverhampton. 

WILLIAM DERRY, Manager. 



THE ORIGINAL 

Mantle, Shawl, and Fur Warehouse. 

ZEST-A-BIilSHIED 1 8 3 S. 

MES. J. PAGE, 

81, BULL STREET, 
BIRMINGHAM. 

DAWIB * Hiwurir, 

AND 

PROVISION MERCHANTS, 

145 & 146, BROAD STREET, 

AND 

109, HOOKLET HILL, 
BIRMINGHAM. 



E. PETERS, 

WHOLESALE 

Wine awd Spirit Blerchattt, 

DEALER IN BURTON ALES, 

AND 

DUBLIN AND LONDON STOUT, 

77, BULL STREET, 

IB I I=L MI I TXT €3- JE3C .A. X^C . 

IMPORTER OF HAVANNAH CIGARS. 

Charles Coreield 

liotweoptltk (flfamtst, 

(Established 1846J 

26, BENNETTS HILL, BIRMINGHAM 

(Chemist to the Birmingham Homoeopathic Hospital and Dispensary,) 

Prepares all the Medicines used under Homoeopathic Treatment. 

Homoeopathic Medicines in Tinctures, Globules, Pilules, and 

Triturations, supplied in the greatest Purity. 

CORFIELD'S HOMEOPATHIC COCOA, 

is.6d. and isAd. per lb. 

COBFIELD'S ZBIROZMZ-A-TIIIsriE, 

A preparation containing the essential property of Cocoa, 

is. and 2s. boxes. 

MEDICINE CASES RE-FILLED. 




THE BIRMINGHAM INDIA-RUBBER COMPANY, 



MAITITFACTTJREBS 



WATERPROOF 

LADIES' 

Circular and Hood Capes, 

JACKETS, SKIRTS, &c. 



COATS & CAPES, 

In Bpecial Materials 
and Shapes, for 

RIDING, DRIVING, 

SHOOTING, 

YACHTINGJISHING, 

WALKING, &c. 




OF 

Surgical Elastic 

STOCKINGS, KNEE CAPS, 

BELTS, 

BANDAGE WEBS, ho. 

INYALIDS^BEDS, 

For Hot or Cold "Water; 

Airproof Beds, 
CUSHIONS AND PILLOWS. I 



CARRIAGE APRONS, 

Coachmen's Coats, 

GAPES WITH SLEEVES, 

Hats, Hat Covers, &c. 

COMPETENT FEMALE ASSISTANTS IN ATTENDANCE. 

124, 3XTo-w Street, Birmingliam 



"WATERPROOF 

BED SHEETING, 

BASSINETTE AND CRIB 

SHEETS, Ac. 

Enemas, Urinals, and 

Pessaries, 

IN GREAT VARIETY ; 

And every description of 
SURGICAL, HOSPITAL, 

AND 

DOMESTIC REQUISITES 
in the Trade. 



JOSEPH HARRIS, 

FRENCH CLEANER, &c, 

ORIEL HOUSE, 41, BULL STREET ; 
121, GREAT CHARLES STREET; 



AND 



4 & 5, LUDGATE HILL, 

3VL I TXT C3- H. -A. IMC . 



BRANCH DEPOT: 

10, DARLINGTON STREET, WOLVERHAMPTON. 



THE 



SHAWL MANTLE ESTABLISHMENT, 

69, BULL STREET. 



CEUMP & PALMER 

Have always a very large stock to select from of all the Newest Designs 
and leading Styles in French and German Shawls, Mantles, and 
Jackets ; also, a large stock of Real Waterproof Mantles, <fcc, to 
which they invite an inspection. 

THE FUR MANUFACTORY. 

CRUMP AND PALMER are noted for having the largest stock of 
Real Sealskin Jackets, and Furs of every description, in Muffs, 
Boas, Collars, Cuffs, and Fur Trimmings, and all warranted free 
from Moth, and the cheapest in the trade. 

CRUMP ^ PALMER, 

69, BULL STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 

IFOIR, tihze seaside. 



FIELD-GLASSES & TELESCOPES, 

the best that money can purchase. 
JAMES GARGORY, 

41, Bull Street, BIRMINGHAM. 



GOLD SPECTACLES. 

best assortment of handsome Gold SPECTA( 
.SSES, set with best Pebbles, at 41, Bull St] 

JAMES GAROORY, Optician. 



The largest and best assortment of handsome Gold SPECTACLES and EYE- 
GLASSES, set with best Pebbles, at 41, Bull Street. 



WHITBY JET. 

JAMES GARGORY wishes to call the attention of the Public to his extensive 
assortment of cheap Jet Ornaments, direct from Whitby. 

41, BULL STREET. 



BRIGHT AND COLOURED GOLD JEWELLERY. 

WEDDING RINGS AND KEEPERS. SILVER FILAGREE ORNAMENTS. 

WELL-SELECTED PATTERNS. 

James Gargory, 41, Bull S-tx-eo-fc. 



Freds- W. Edman, 

Mmlt Mint & Spirit jprrknt, 

27, COLMORE ROW, 



M. PARKER, 

Grocery and Wax Candle Warehouse, 

63, BULL STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 

NEW SEASON'S TEAS: 

Selected with care from the finest imported. 

A Tea recommended for strength with fine 

flavour, 

Per 2/6 and 3/- lb. 

COFFEES : 

Plantation, East India, and Mocha. 

A mixture of fine Plantation and East India, 

Per 1/6 lb. 

FARINACEOUS GOODS, SAUCES, PICKLES, PRESERVES, &a. 



HASSAI.I. & SINGLETON, 

IRONFOUNDERS, FREEMAN STRFET, BIRMINGHAM. 



Register 
Stoves. 



Tile 
Hearths. 




EngUsli 

and 

Foreign 
Marble 
Chimney 
Pieces. 

Enamelled 

Slate 

Chimney 

Pieces. 



Sole Makers of the "Birmingham" Range; also, the "Lichfield" and 
" Staffordshire " Ranges, &c. 

BY ROYAL LETTERS PATENT. 

THE FEKRABTI-TURSER PROCESS 

HONOURED BY HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL COMMANDS. 



LICENSEES FOR BIRMINGHAM : 

FRANK SCOTT, HOLLAND, & CO., 

54, NEW STREET; * 53, QUEEN STREET, WOLVERHAMPTON. 

FRANK SCOTT, HOLLAND, & CO., 
JHiniature painters anti ^{jotosrapijers Bogal, 

(From the Royal Polytechnic, Regent Street, London,) 
Respectfully announces that they have completed their NEW ROYAL SOLAR STUDIO, at 
54, NEW STREET. 

Mr. P. SCOTT has had the honour of Photographing the undermentioned Eminent 
Personages, which he trusts will be a sufficient guarantee for the excellence of his 
Productions— H.M. The Queen, H R.H. The Late Prince Consort, H.R H. The Duke of 
Edinburgh, H.R.H. Tbe Crown Princess of Prussia, H.R.H. The Crown Prince of Prussia, 
H.R.H. Prince Leopold, H.S.H. Princess Sophia of Prussia, H S H. Prince Henry of 
Prussia, H.S H. Prince George of Prussia and all the Prussian Family, H I.M. Maria Amelia, 
H.I.H- The Comte de Paris, H.I.H. The Comte de Chartres, H.I.H. Prince Nickamschado of 
Japan, His Grace The Duke of Marlborough, Her Grace The Duchess of Marlborough, 

and the principal Nobility and Clergy of Europe. 

The NEW BERLIN CARTES, as executed of the Family of His Royal Highness the 

CROWN PRINCE OF PRUSSIA, and for which Mr. F.Scott received His Highness's highest 

approval, 6s. per dozen. 

The New Patent Permanent SILICATED CARTES, 10s. per dozen. 

Their New Patent FERRANTI-TURNER AUTOTYPE PHOTOGRAPHS, from £3 3b., 

in frame, complete. 

SHOW ROOMS OPEN FROM NINE TO SEVEN DAILY. 



JAMES TUCKER, 

BURLINGTON ARCADE, NEW STREET, 

SOLE AGENT FOE BIRMINGHAM AND DISTRICT FOR 

FELTOE & SONS, LONDON. 



THE SPECIALITE" SHERRY, 30/- DOZEN, 

Adopted and recommended by 3,000 Physicians and Surgeons. 



Turkish :q_a.t:e3: s, 
14, crescent, cambridge street, 

BIRMHTG-HAM, 

OPEN r>^II,Y (SUNDAYS EXCEPTED) 

PROM 8 A.M. TILL 8 P.M. 

For Gentlemen, 3/6, 2/6, and II- each; and for Ladies (Public), on Tuesdays 
and Fridays, 2/6; other days (Private), 3/6 each. 

FIRST-CLASS SHAMPOOERS ENGAGED. 

VAPOUR, SULPHUR, AND MEDICATED BATHS. 
LIST OF TERMS. 



Mercurial Vapour Bath . . 4/- each. 

Sulphur Bath 4/- „ 

Private Vapour Bath ... 1/6 „ 

Public Vapour Bath ... 1/- „ 



Douche Bath 1/- each. 

Sanatorium Bath .... 1/- „ 

Sitz Bath l r „ 

Shower Bath 1/- „ 



N.B.— The only Establishment in the Midland Counties where you can have such a variety 
of Baths for the purposes of luxury and health. 

JAMES MELLING, Proprietor. 

M. MELLING, Superintendent of LadieB. 



PHOTOGRAPHY. 



J. SUNDERLAND, 

Mfim MB PlOTMMPlIfi, 

67, BULL STREET, AND THE ARCADE, 



CABTES, 5/" PER DOZES". 



ISLINGTON HOUSE. 



MAPI 



m>M 



(Late SPENCER,) 

109 & 110, Broad Street, Birmingham, 

The oldest Linen, Woollen, Hosiery, and General 
Drapery Establishment in Broad Street. 

Families and Hotel Proprietors will meet with a well-assorted 
and carefully-bought 

STOCK OF GENERAL DRAPERY, 

at moderate prices. 

The celebrated "Dacca Twist" Calicoes, in Gray and White, always 
in stock. 

FAMILY MOURNING, &o, 

SAMUEL PEACOCK, 




CONTRACTOR FOR REMOVING FURNITURE, &c, 

To all parts of the World, on an Improved System, 

BY ROAD OR RAIL, WITHOUT PACKING. 

GOSTA GREEN, BIRMINGHAM. 



Open and Closed Vans for Road or Rail. China, Glass, and Wines carefully removed. 

PIANOS MOVED WITH SPECIAL CARE. 



Chemical, Mineral, & Aerated Waters Manufacturer, 




(SUPPLIED IS SIPHONS 4 BOTTLES,) 

ALSO 

LICENSEE for LAMOHT'S PATENT 

GLASS STOPPER. 



WELL LANE, DIGBETH, 
BIRMINGHAM. 



ROBERT LLOYD CROSBIE & CO., 

THE GLOBE FOUNDRY, 
CHAELOTTE STEEET, BIEMLWGHAM, 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

BRASS & IRON BEDSTEADS, &c, 

Of every description, for Home and Exportation. 

Children's Bedsteads, Cots, Swing Cots, Chair Bedsteads, Sofas, 
Couches, Chairs, &c. ; Camp, Folding, and Portable Bedsteads of all 
kinds : Washstands, Towel Rails, Hat Hails, &c. 



LONDON SHOW ROOMS AND WAREHOUSES: 
43 & 44, TABEEUACLE WJLILIK:. 



C&5 

C S. JONES, 

Fruit and Italian Warehouse, 

43, GREAT WESTERN ARCADE, 



44, MONMOUTH STREET, 

BIRMINGHAM. 



THE OLDEST BOOK SHOP IN BIRMINGHAM. 
HUDSON & SON, 18, BULL STREET. 

Established in 1821 by the late Benjamin Hudson. 



ZDISCOTTIfcTT OIT BOOKS: 

THREEPENCE in the Shilling, for Cash. 

TWOPENCE in the Shilling, when Entered, and Paid for 

within a Month. 

BINDING, ENGRAVING, LITHOGRAPHY, and RELIEF-STAMPING. 

STEAM PRINTING OFFICE 
THE 

dtefram JRfe ^rnnmm £o titty. 



HEAD OFFICE: 

37, OLD JEWRY, LONDON. 

BRANCH OFFICE : 

WATERLOO CHAMBERS, 26, WATERLOO 
STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 

THE CASH SYSTEM. 

"Heartily do I wish that shop debts were pronounced after a certain date 
irrecoverable at law. The effect would be that no one would be able to ask credit 
at a shop except where he was well known, and for trifling- sums. All prices would 
sink to the scale of cash prices. The dishonourable system of fashionable 
debtors— who always pay too late, if at all, and cast their deficiencies on other 
customers in the form of increased charges— would be at once annihilated. Shop- 
keepers would be rid of a great deal of care, which ruins the happiness of 
thousands." — Professor Newman'' s Lectures on Political Economy. 

HIGH-CLASS TAILORING ESTABLISHMENT, 

1111 J111S 

26, COLMORE 

OPPOSITE TEMPLE ROW WEST AND ST. PHILIP'S CHURCHYARD, 
For Gentlemen who require no Credit, and who, whilst wishing to wear high- 
class Clothing, object to be taxed with other people's credit, bad debts, &c. 




Geo. Wilkinson & Co., 
§reters nnir Mm f|tert|aitte, 

BREWERY-ASHTED ROW; 

OFFICE— 29, LOWEE TEMFLE STEEET, 
BIRMINGHAM. 










MR. J. 0. C. PHILLIPS, 
SURGEON DENTIST, 

COLMORE HOUSE, 

ooi_.:m:o:r,:e :r,o"w, 
BIRMINGHAM. 










PK 


MONTAGU BROWNE, 

INCE OE WALES THEATRE BUILDS 

DB I OFL J\X I 3XT C3- 131 -A. 3VE . 


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DEERS' AND FOXES' HEADS, FOR HALLS. 

NDSOME FEATHER SCREENS, FOR PRESE1 

BRITISH BIRDS, SKINS, AND EGGS. 


STTS. 


BIEI 


)S, ANIMALS, AND FISHES MOUNTED IN A THOROU< 
ARTISTIC MANNER. 


}HLY 



Lisseter & Miller, 

dook$, H^fuitefef^, kqd donfedtionef^, 
20, BENNETTS HILL, 

{Three Doors from New Street) 

BiE,iyi:ziNrc3-H:^_3^i:. 

Routs, Balls, Suppers, and Wedding Breakfasts supplied. 



D. LEONARDT & CO., 

Patentees and Manufacturers of 

Carbonized and other Steel Pens, 

VIENNA, 1873. ' 

GOLD PENS, MARCOGRAPHIC PENS, 

PEN-HOLDERS, PENCIL-CASES, &c. 

UNIVERSAL PEN WORKS, 69, GEORGE STREET, 

PARADE, 
MANUFACTURERS OF THE " NEPTUNE " PEN, TO WRITE WITHOUT INK. 




John Hanks & Sons, 

©aal $$£rch:atxt$ ; 
CHAELOTTE STEEET WHARF, 

(NEAR THE PARADE,) 
BIRMINGH AM. 



TO PRIVATE FAMILIES. 



Timothy J. Davies & Son, 

71, BRISTOL ROAD, EDGBASTON, 



IE S TABL I SHE JD 1833. 




TENANT'S FIXTURE. GLAZED WITHOUT PUTTY, 
BY A NEW PATENT METHOD. 



J. S. MERRIWEATHER, 
HOSIER, GLOVER, & SHIRT MAKER, 

57 & 58, BULL STREET. 

(NEAR THE TOP.) 



If you want the luxury of a True-fitting Shirt, try Merryweather' 
" Universal." 

6 for 26/-. 6 for 32/-. 6 for 38/-. 6 for 44/-. 6 for 50/-. 






H. AINGWORTH, 

FURNISHING AND BUILDERS' IRONMONGER 
AND GENERAL iRONFOUNDER, 

CHARCOAL AND COAL DUST MILLS, 

54, BULL STREET, AND 14, LIVERY STREET, 

BIRIYEHSTGHAIVl. 




CENTRAL PAPER HANGING ESTABLISHMENT, 

QUEEN'S COLLEGE BUILDINGS, 39, PARADISE STREET, opposite the Town Hall, BIRMINGHAM. 
£1. 15^LAJN^^& CO., 

Decorators, Painters, JPl^jmbejrs^ Paper Hangers, &c. 

A large stock of the newest and best patterns in British and Foreign Paper Hangings, Borders, 
Centres, Gilt Mouldings, &c, always on hand. 
R. MANN, having had 35 years' experience in carrying out Interior Decoration (for 8 years 
in Partnership with the late J. R. Lee,) is enabled to undertake the Decoration of Mansions, 
Churches, and Public Buildings, and will be happy to give references to Gentlemen for whom 
work has been executed and Architects whose designs have been carried out. 

SIGN PAINTING- IN ALL ITS BKANCHES. 

WATER CLOSETS. LEAD PUMPS, BATHS, WATERWORKS SERVICES, AND ALL KINDS OF 

PLUMBING WORK PUNCTUALLY ATTENDED TO. 

Experienced Workmen sent to any part op the Country. 

ESTIMATES GIVEN. 

Davis Brothers, 

Silk $$ercers and General Brapers, 

196 and 197, BRISTOL STREET, 
BIRMINGHAM. 



YOUR PATRONAGE AND RECOMMENDATION ARE RESPECTFULLY 
SOLICITED. 



WILLIAM WRAY, 

(LATE HURT & WRAY,) 

Chronometer, Watch, and Clock Manufacturer, 

38, NEW STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 

JOSEPH J. ALLEN, 

(BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT) 

OF, 

BALL ROO MS, SOIREES, B AZAARS, &C, 

ADDRESS : 

HOWARD STREET ART INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM. 



REEVE'S ^^ ^^ AROMATIC 

of Ginger, Rhubarb, and 

other Medicines known to be useful in 

relieving Flatulency, Heartburn, and the various 

forms of Indigestion. It has a very pleasant taste, and If 

taken for several weeks permanently strengthens the stomach. Sold 

in 6d. and Is. Packets, and 2s. 6d. Boies, by 

T. L. S-EEVB, 

Chemist, 19, New Street, Birmingham 

and by all the principal Chem- 

_^ ists in the Midland __ 

DIGESTIVE ^v*™*.-^ CANDY. 



W. T. SIBLEY, 

TAILOR, HATTER, AND OUTFITTER, 

84 & 85, BROAD STREET, 

Has always on hand a large Stock of the Newest and most 

Fashionable Goods, which combine style and 

quality with very moderate prices. 




JCJ / V ' B— t I— B T )g > H 

IMPROVED RECUMBENT COUCH. 

This Couch is applicable to a variety of 
uses ; it is employed in the drawing-room, 
boudoir, bed-room, nursery, garden, hospi- 
tal, infirmary, at the sea-side, on shipboard, 
in the camp, and by emigrants and travel- 
lers at home and abroad.— 84/- 

Invalid Furniture and Reading Easels 
of every description. 

CATALOGUES FREE BY POST. 



HARRIS'S SILYER MEDAL NATIONAL CONTEST LAWN MOWERS, 

For 1878, with all the latest improvements, 6 in., 21/- ; 8 in., 34/- ; 10 in., 48/- ; 12 in., 

80/- ; 14 in., £5 ; made up to 40 in. 
Prize Medal Hose Reels, 15/- to 90/- ; Improved Garden Rollers, 16in., 30/-, 18 in., 40/-, 
20 in. ,50/-, 22 in., 60/-, 24 in., 80/-, 26 in., 90/-, 30 in., 100/- ; Garden Chairs, 7/6 ; Garden 
Seats, 6 ft., 22/-; Knife Cleaners, 21/-; Carpet Sweepers, 10/6; Sausage Machines from 
10/6 to £24 ; Mangling and Wringing Machines, 30/-, 40/-, 50/-, 60/- ; Chaff Cutters, 45/- 

to £24 ; Bean and Oat Crushers, 70/- to £10. All kinds of Machines repaired. 
G. H. HARRIS, Bristol Street, BIRMINGHAM. 



Established 



a.d. 1818. 



Tlie Extensive Ranges of Metallic Hot-Houses in 

THE ROYAL GARDENS, FROGMORE AND OSBORNE, 

Were executed at this Establishment. 

METALLIC HOT-HOUSE BUILDER TO HER MAJESTY. 

HENEYHOPE, 

(Late CLARK & HOPE) 

Horticultural Builder, Hot-Water Apparatus Engineer. 

WROUGHT-IRON AND GUN-METAL WINDOWS. 

55, LIONEL STREET, BIRMINGHAM. 

Book of Designs post free for 60 stamps. 

PURE CONFECTIONERY, 

IN ETERY VARIETY, MANUFACTURED BY 

0AMMOI, 1A11IA1, % 00., 

And sold at their Eetail Establishments, 

126, NEW STEEET; 70, BULL STEEET; 

AND 

115, CONSTITUTION HILL. 

Guaranteed Pure and Wholesome, as certified by the Borough Analyst. 



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